To build or not to build a salmon estuary habitat — that is the question facing Greenbank homeowners.

Some answers may be forthcoming at a special town hall meeting about a feasibility study for the salmon estuary project in Greenbank. The meeting is at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 2 at the Greenbank Progressive Club on Bakken Road, just off Highway 525.

The Swinomish and Lummi tribes have joined together to fund a study to identify “nearshore” habitat restoration sites for salmon in the early stages of their life cycle.

The tribes have engaged the Skagit River Cooperative to collect data and find the best locations in Puget Sound for salmon habitats. They’ve found that salmon fingerlings take up residence in small estuaries along Whidbey and Camano Islands where there are no predators and they grow stronger and faster, according to Skagit Cooperative ecologist Aundrea McBride.

By creating protected saltwater estuaries, they hope to dramatically increase the number of salmon that successfully return to their spawning grounds in the Snohomish, Skagit and Stillaguamish rivers.

The Greenbank site is one of two on South Whidbey that’s getting a close look; the other is near Possession Point.

The idea is to take the project to the design stage. Based on public input and a commitment of interest in the study, the tribes will take the study to the state and apply for grant money.

An estuary project at Greenbank may be abandoned, however, if landowners raise objections.

The upcoming town hall will cover issues such as how seawater would be brought into the wetlands, the environmental impact, effects on homeowners, and traffic problems if North Bluff Road is closed.

Originally, the Greenbank site was a large lagoon, opening to the north and protected by a broad spit. Today, it is a closed wetlands with a tide gate and bulkhead-protected spit. More than 50 percent of the lagoon — and the backyards of at least 11 homes — are below sea level.

The feasibility study will determine if it’s possible to:

• Protect homes on the spit from future flooding;

• Maintain the local boat club’s launch ramp;

• Restore roughly 23 acres of lagoon habitat to tidal inundation for salmon;

• And restore the beach face of the spit for fish forage spawning and wave energy dispersion.

McBride emphasized the project is in its very early stages, but will benefit a variety of interests in the years to come: recreational and commercial fishermen — especially the tribes sponsoring the study — homeowners threatened by flooding, the environment and the general public.

For more information, contact Port of Coupeville director Jim Patton at 360-678-5020.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or e-mail jvanderford@southwhidbeyrecord.com.