Don’t overlook Echo Lake for trout

Published 1:18 pm Thursday, May 1, 2008

I enjoyed the Edmonds-Snohomish fishing news in the April 18 Shoreline Enterprise and hope to add our city’s “gem,” lest it be overlooked.

A neighborhood and an elementary school are named after it. It’s adjacent to the new Interurban Trail, on the east side of Aurora, recently stocked with trout, open all year round for fishing and is aptly named, “Echo Lake.”

True, it’s only 13 acres, has two natural springs and flows into Lake Ballinger, but we enjoy its history, occasional swims, drifting in small crafts, viewing turtles, otters and ducks and sharing it with fishermen and families.

We welcome visitors, especially those that thoughtfully utilize the park’s trash bins and keep their dogs on leash, leaving the north end park, beach and waters safe and fun for all.

The city of Shoreline values Echo Lake and funds the sampling and testing of its water on a weekly basis from May to October. The results are then reported on King County’s Web site, “Swimming Beach Bacteria and Temperature Date” all summer long at metrokc.gov.

Despite new construction and development at Echo Lake’s south end behind the buffer area, the city assures that the new larger filtering drainage systems will actually improve the current water quality, which has been reported “fair to good” for many years.

Let’s enjoy Echo Lake and its fishing, keep an eye on the water reports, and hope for the best!

Barbara Lacy

Shoreline