Help make North Creek healthier

Tom Murdoch

Do you live or work in the 10-mile long by 3-mile wide corridor running from south Everett near Silver Lake to Mill Creek, Bothell and the Sammamish River? If so, you are in the 30-square mile area of land that drains into North Creek and its many branches including: Sitka, Mill, Penney, Nickel, Tambark, Silver, Thompson, Sulphur Springs, Filbert and Palm creeks.

According to Snohomish County’s demographers, there are 87,000 people who currently share the North Creek watershed, and 30,000 more are projected by 2012. North Creek also provides habitat for chinook, silver and sockeye salmon, steelhead, and resident and sea-run cutthroat trout. Unfortunately, the numbers of fish surviving in North Creek are rapidly dwindling.

As the human population grows, and people are rapidly paving over the watershed with rooftops, parking lots and driveways. Winter rains that used to soak up in forest and wetlands now flow rapidly to North Creek, causing erosion and destruction of fish habitat during the winter months. In many places, North Creek goes dry in the summer. We have created more than 50 barriers to salmon migration. Pollutants from lawns, pavement, and failing septic tanks flushing to the creek have rendered it no longer suitable for primary or secondary contact recreation, according to "The State of the Waters: Water Quality in Snohomish County’s Rivers, Streams and Lakes," published in 1996 by the Snohomish Public Works Surface Water Management, 1996. If you drink the water, you will get sick. That’s the bad news.

Now, are you ready for some good news? It is possible to accommodate all of the newcomers into the North Creek watershed and still protect and enhance its salmon and trout populations. Every North Creek watershed resident can play a role. For example, you can "encourage" planners and your elected representatives to get creative and establish policies requiring new development to "build up instead of out," with a focus on urban villages surrounded by open space. Gardeners can landscape for wildlife and stop using chemicals that wash off into the creek.

Low-rise commercial development can become high- or mid-rise mixed use development with housing on top, eliminating the need to pave over more of the watershed. Everyone can stop pouring anything down a storm drain that you would not drink; all 10,000 storm drains in the watershed lead to North Creek or its tributaries.

You can become a North Creek streamkeeper who monitors the stream and get your feet wet doing stream restoration projects. We can all get together and have barriers to salmon migration removed — a very rewarding experience.

Some other positive thoughts to report are that the city of Everett has purchased a few acres next to North Creek north of 128th Street where it will be creating a wetland to catch and filter some of the "upstream" runoff from developed areas. The Adopt-A-Stream Foundation and North Creek Streamkeepers have resurrected three acres of wetlands from a parking lot downstream from the Everett project, restored a few miles of stream banks and improved fish habitat. Snohomish County Parks and Recreation and the city of Mill Creek purchased large wetland areas and created North Creek Regional Park. And the city of Bothell purchased another large wetland area near Thrashers Corner that will become a park. Also, the Washington state Department of Ecology has drafted a new plan to improve North Creek’s water quality.

Want to find out more? North Creek’s many problems and solutions to those problems will be the focus of a North Creek Watershed Forum. It will take place on Wednesday, between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. at the Northwest Stream Center in McCollum Park (1/2 mile east of I-5 off the 128th Street exit between Everett and Mill Creek). DOE will unveil its new Water Cleanup Plan. Everett, Mill Creek, Bothell, and Snohomish County stream experts will be there to share information. And the Adopt-A-Stream Foundation will be recruiting North Creek streamkeepers. You will even get a chance to talk to a six-foot long salmon!

Tom Murdoch is director of the Adopt-A-Stream Foundation, based in Everett, and co-author of the "Streamkeeper’s Field Guide." More information is available at 425-316-8592.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Customers enter and exit the Costco on Dec. 2, 2022, in Lake Stevens. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Costco stores could be impacted by looming truck driver strike threat

Truck drivers who deliver groceries and produce to Costco warehouses… Continue reading

Two Washington State ferries pass along the route between Mukilteo and Clinton as scuba divers swim near the shore Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ferry system increases ridership by a half million in 2024

Edmonds-Kingston route remains second-busiest route in the system.

New Greater Everett Chamber of Commerce CEO CEO Wendy Poischbeg speaks at a kick off event on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Everett Rising’: Wednesday’s chamber luncheon to showcase a new era of growth.

The Greater Everett Chamber of Commerce is beginning its efforts… Continue reading

The Edmonds School District building on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Edmonds School District faces estimated $8.5 million deficit

The shortfall is lower than previous years, but the effects are “cumulative,” Superintendent Rebecca Miner said.

Hundreds rally against Trump on Presidents Day in Everett

People lined Broadway with signs and flags, similar to other protests across the country

Robin Cain with 50 of her marathon medals hanging on a display board she made with her father on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Running a marathon is hard. She ran one in every state.

Robin Cain, of Lake Stevens, is one of only a few thousand people to ever achieve the feat.

People line up to grab food at the Everett Recovery Cafe on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Coffee, meals and compassion are free at the Everett Recovery Cafe

The free, membership-based day center offers free coffee and meals and more importantly, camaraderie and recovery support.

Alina Langbehn, 6, center, and Vera A., 6, right, sit on a swing together at Drew Nielsen Neighborhood Park after school on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett council votes to renovate Drew Nielsen Park

Construction on the $345,000 upgrade could start as early as this fall.

The Everett Wastewater Treatment Plant along the Snohomish River on Thursday, June 16, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett water, sewer rates could jump 43% by 2028

The rate hikes would pay for improvements to the city’s sewer infrastructure.

The bond funded new track and field at Northshore Middle School on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 in Bothell, Washington. (Courtesy of Northshore School District)
Northshore School District bond improvements underway

The $425 million bond is funding new track and field complexes, playgrounds and phase one of two school replacements.

Northshore School District bus driver Stewart O’Leary pictured next to his buses shattered drivers side windshield on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025 in Bothell, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Put me in, coach’: Bus driver back at work after struck by metal bar

Stewart O’Leary, a Northshore employee, has received national attention for his composure during a frightening bus trip.

Lynnwood councilor Joshua Binda speaks during a Lynnwood City Council meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Does the Lynnwood Council VP live in Lynnwood? It’s hard to say.

Josh Binda’s residency has been called into question following an eviction and FEC filings listing an Everett address. He insists he lives in Lynnwood.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.