Shoreline City Council members expressed an interest in joining four surrounding cities to work on watershed issues pertaining to the Lake Ballinger watershed at their April 7 meeting.
Although a vote was not taken on the matter, city manager Bob Olander said he concluded from councilmember comments the council’s intent is to accept a resolution to support future planning efforts and projects within the Lake Ballinger basin.
“Specifically this effort is looking at a basin plan and we have had some discussion about basin plans – specifically Ronald Bog,” public works director Mark Relph said. “This is a little more complicated because there are several entities involved here.”
The cities of Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds and Lake Forest Park all individually approved resolutions to work collaboratively with each other on future basin plans and projects. A portion of the Lake Ballinger drainage basin is within Shoreline’s municipality and includes drainage from the Echo Lake basin. Outflows from Lake Ballinger and McAleer Creek also run through a portion of the city.
Councilwoman Janet Way said she attended a March 19 meeting of representatives from each of the municipalities about the basin. A small portion of Lyon Creek is within Shoreline, she pointed out, and a resolution passed in Lake Forest Park included Lyon Creek.
“One of the reasons we are at a very important position is we are the headwaters area,” she said. “We have a very significant opportunity to protect the entire watershed by what we do in the headwaters. It may be worth our while to include both (Lyon Creek and McAleer Creek) in the resolution.”
Councilman Chris Eggen, mayor Cindy Ryu, and deputy mayor Terry Scott each stated they would like to see Lyon Creek included in the resolution but would be also be accepting of the resolution if it did not mention the waterway.
Priorities for drainage plans and projects will continue to be authorized by the council, Olander said. The council’s main priority at this point, he said, has been the Ronald Bog drainage basin. A second may be at Boeing Creek, Lake Ballinger may be a third priority, and then Lyon Creek may be fourth, he said.
“We will have to set some priorities and look for some funding,” he said. “Maybe we’ll know more as we get into negotiating the scope of work for this project. We still are a minority share of the (Lake Ballinger) drainage basin and so we would expect to be a minority share of both the staff work and the funding.”
The city has historically kept a low profile when dealing with Lake Ballinger, according to Relph because a majority of the Lake Ballinger basin is outside the city limits. The city has experienced only minor maintenance problems, such as slope stabilization, around McAleer Creek, he added.
“There’s a lot of issues about steep slopes and sedimentation that I believe we need to help the people downstream with and I think it’s appropriate for us to work as best as we can now in conjunction with these parties because we’re going to be working on a drainage (plan) for phase three of Aurora,” Way said. “As we move forward on that by looking at ways to improve drainage I just think it’s appropriate.”
A resolution about Lake Ballinger will be included in a future consent calendar, Olander said.
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