If the Dec. 3 storm’s after effects surprised many people, they didn’t surprise Tom Murdoch.
Murdoch, director of the Everett-based Adopt-A-Stream Foundation, has been working hard to educate people about the value of all those streams we drive over every day on our way to wherever we’re going.
I asked Tom what affect the storm had on streams like Scriber Creek, Hall Creek and the Lund’s Gulch watershed area. Sewer and storm water mixed in that storm and, while it was a temporary headache for people, the impacts on salmon and other stream dwellers will likely linger longer.
Hard to know how salmon or other living things were affected, Murdoch said.
“Unless you’re right there when there’s a flush coming out of the pipe, it’s very difficult to measure,” he said.
He suggested I read a Snohomish County report called “State of the Waters.”
The report identifies many streams, including Swamp Creek, McAleer Creek, Lyon Creek and Hall Creek.
“Across the board, under ordinary circumstances, these streams are not suitable for contact recreation,” Murdoch said.
Levels of lead, cadmium, zinc, copper, chromium and bacteria that like to gather where animal waste is plentiful “exceed state standards on a regular basis,” he said.
And that’s without the added impact of a 100-year storm such as the one on Dec. 3.
With temperatures higher than they should be and oxygen levels lower than aquatic life need to survive, much less thrive, our stream life support systems are maxed out.
Believe it or not, 40 years ago, Scriber Creek “was a terrific salmon stream,” Murdoch said. But as Lynnwood and surrounding areas developed, “there wasn’t too much thought given to retaining the environment.”
Ah yes, if they had known then what we know now.
Like, if we knew that a watershed is the area surrounding a stream that dumps into a stream.
Most of the watershed surrounding Scriber Creek today is made up of roof tops, parking lots and driveways.
With better forethought, Murdoch said, planners would have made sure at least 200 feet of native vegetation was preserved within those watery or “riparian” areas.
Of course, hindsight is 20/20. Today, we know that the cumulative affects on these waterways that surround us are even greater than what a single storm can cause.
We all contribute to the denigration of our streams, which all lead to larger water bodies, like Lake Washington and Puget Sound.
So Murdoch’s message is a simple one: don’t wait for the politicians or the government to take care of those streams.
I’ve been concerned for six years about Lake Ballinger, since I live close to it. I’ve spoken to homeowner groups about switching to organic gardening methods. My own condominium association, of which I’m a board member, has been a little reluctant to go that route because it’s more expensive.
Murdoch’s a big advocate of low-impact building design.
The Dec. 3 storm, he said, should be a wake-up call.
“If we want our streams to be suitable for recreation and for spawning, it is essential that all new development be done with low-impact design techniques and that people retrofit existing development.”
We all can do our part, he said.
“It’s sad, but sometimes it takes total disasters to wake people up.”
Oscar Halpert is editor of the Lynnwood/Mountlake Terrace Enterprise.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
