It took longer to complete than expected, but the $4 million effort to improve the salmon habitat in Issaquah Creek is finally finished.

We couldn’t be happier – and we expect the salmon will be, too. There’s now a far easier process for returning salmon to migrate past the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery and move upstream in Issaquah Creek.

The old dam, dating back to 1937, is gone, as are the 12-inch-high steps the salmon had to leap on their journey to spawn. Now, each step is but nine inches and there are pools for the fish to rest on as their jumping journey continues.

As Reporter staff writer Linda Ball’s story on page one notes, the new system not only is better for the salmon, but is also a visual improvement that only will get better as foliage fills in along the recontoured creek banks.

Other improvements are out of sight but equally important to the health of the salmon. The water that flows from the creek to the hatchery now has a computer-controlled cleaning process that can clean each of five screens in 12 seconds each.

The creek and the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery are more than just a place for fish. As the Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery point out, the hatchery is the most visited of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s hatcheries, with thousands of visitors every year. The salmon also form the bedrock reason for Issaquah’s annual Salmon Festival that brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city each fall.

A final point worth noting: kudos to the Legislature for committing the funds for the project. There’s no lack of projects and programs that could have used the $4 million. Fortunately, the salmon won the day – as did we all.