Watershed woes

Myriad problems plague Lake Ballinger’s watershed, and more than 30 government officials met in Edmonds’ City Hall March 19 to help tackle them.

Chief among the problems are flooding along the lake and its creeks — residents suffered millions of dollars in damages during December’s floods alone. Water quality is another concern, officials said.

In 1972, the state found it had the poorest water quality of 34 lakes surveyed in the Puget Sound region.

Still, the Lake Ballinger watershed bridges so many cities that its problems have languished for decades.

“One of our goals was just to get everybody at the table,” said Edmonds Councilmember DJ Wilson, who helped call the meeting.

Five cities, two counties, four state legislators, the Department of Ecology, or DOE, and Rep. Jay Inslee’s office were represented.

Among attendees, there was widespread support for a basin-wide approach to the problem. A second meeting is tentatively planned for May in Mountlake Terrace.

At that meeting, Wilson hopes the cities can sign an interlocal agreement which would govern the group and help dictate financing. It is likely the cities will be asked to contribute between $20,000 and $40,000 to the project, he said.

The project already has $200,000 from the DOE, and is hoping to secure an additional $200,000 from the federal government. Wilson has drafted a project plan which calls for $600,000 to be spent. Of that amount, $100,000 would go for public education, $175,000 for preliminary fixes, and $325,000 to fund a longer-term planning document.

But it will be tricky defining exactly what — and where — the problem is, officials said.

The 107-acre urban lake largely sits in Mountlake Terrace, is fed mostly by Lynnwood’s Hall Creek, and is drained by McAleer Creek, which runs downstream primarily through Mountlake Terrace and the cities of Lake Forest Park and Shoreline.

Somehow, of the 52 homes around the lake, all but three are located in Edmonds.

Flooding at the lake itself could be diminished if its weir, a device at the south end of the lake which controls the water level, were lowered, but that would likely lead to more flooding downstream. Two studies on the lake should be published in April, including one which deals specifically with the weir height.

Each city brings its own set of issues and hurdles, officials said.

Lynnwood does not want specific discussions regarding lake-level, said Bill Franz, the city’s public works director. Its primary concern is water quality, he said.

Lake Forest Park believes any discussion about McAleer Creek needs to involve Lyon Creek, too, Mayor Dave Hutchinson said. Lyon Creek, which flows from Mountlake Terrace, also has flooding problems.

Mountlake Terrace disagrees.

“They are two separate basins. They are two separate issues,” said John Caulfield, Mountlake Terrace’s city manager. Caulfield noted that Mountlake Terrace is the only city in the watershed which has adopted the Department of Ecology’s strict stormwater management practices.

Not all cities have identical environmental practices, he said, adding that was “the 800-pound gorilla in the room.”

The project will take dedication, experts said.

If it is successful, it could set an example for the rest of the state to follow, said Ralph Svrjeck, a water quality specialist with the DOE.

“They are saying, ‘We don’t want to just come in and put a band aid on this one thing. We want to look at this the way we should,’” Svrjeck said. “This is going to be a challenge.”

Although his opinion is not final, Svrjeck said he did not believe DOE’s $200,000 could be spent on Lyon Creek.

Despite these differing opinions, Wilson believes this current effort can succeed where others have failed in part through shared political will. Although the cities have been trying for years, politicians haven’t come to the table in full force, he said. Now, they are, Wilson said.

There is also new necessity, said Lake Forest Park councilmember Don Fiene. The cost of flood damages is accelerating rapidly. December’s flooding caused $2.5 million in damages in Lake Forest Park, he said.

If the citizens sue Lake Forest Park, it might turn around and sue the cities upstream who are sending down too much water, he said. He doesn’t want to threaten the other cities, but he does want them to realize the scope of the issue, Fiene said.

“Pretty soon we are all entangled,” Fiene said. “If you look ahead farther down the road, you have homeowners who have issues and expect their cities to address them, and (address them) pretty soon.”