Larry Wasserman, Water Hero 2019

With decades of work experience as an environmental policy manager, Larry has an extraordinary and distinguished record of activism. He received a B.A. in biology from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1976 and a master’s degree from the University of Washington School of Fisheries in 1984. His areas of research have included investigations of salmon survival following the eruption of Mount St. Helens; spring Chinook life history strategies and consequences for hatchery practices; and riparian vegetation studies related to salmon habitat. From 1982-1991 he advocated for the protection and restoration of habitat essential for anadromous fish on behalf of the Yakima Indian Nation, and then for the Skagit System Cooperative and Swinomish Indian Tribal Community from 1991 to present. His work currently focuses on habitat protection strategies with a particular emphasis on preservation of instream flows, analyzing how flows will be affected by climate change, and the socioeconomic responses to this change.

Beyond the day to day, Larry has also been instrumental in securing a few big victories for water rights. In 1993 he served on the Water Resources Forum established by then Governor Booth Gardner and negotiated the agreement that led to the formation of the 2001 Skagit Instream Flow rule. In addition to serving on CELP’s Science Advisory Board, Larry is also the Vice-Chair of the Skagit Climate Science Consortium.