Sammamish Watershed

May 6, 2008 Lake Sammamish salmon recovery to get boost U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans investigation of kokanee stock’s crash March 31, 2008 External article, Seattle Times How Brightwater soared to $1.8 billion - and why you're paying more Jan. 22, 2008 Proposed statewide medicine take-back bill would protect people and environment Successful pilot take-back project helps frame state legislation Jan. 22, 2008 External article, Seattle Times Finally, a safe, environmental way to get rid of old medicine Jan. 16, 2008 King County’s Native Plant Salvage Program seeks volunteers for habitat restoration Jan. 16, 2008 Partnership will lead to mountain bike course at King County’s Duthie Hill Park Dec. 21, 2007 King County added to federal flood relief Residents and businesses now eligible for aid Dec. 21, 2007 News release, Seattle P-I Issaquah gets grant to protect salmon Dec. 20, 2007 King County watersheds share $8.3 million in state funds for salmon habitat protection, restoration Dec. 5, 2007 King County responds to wastewater overflow in Bothell Dec. 4, 2007 King County responds to wastewater overflows caused by Monday’s rainstorm Dec. 3, 2007 External article, Everett Herald Maltby targeted for new parks from Brightwater money Nov. 29, 2007 External article, Seattle Times New trail gives Issaquah access Nov. 20, 2007 Sammamish unveils LEED-certified City Hall 'Silver'-rated project is first of several for new 'green' Sammamish Commons Oct. 24, 2007 External article, Seattle Times Kokanee fail to garner protection Oct. 22, 2007 Education comes through volunteering at Brightwater habitat restoration event Oct. 17, 2007 Lend a hand digging local plants with King County’s Native Plant Salvage Program July 19, 2007 Household hazardous waste recycling easy; Wastemobile in Issaquah Aug. 3-5 July 17, 2007 International interest in Brightwater Plant innovations Habitat design team invited to teach in South Korea Jun. 20, 2007 Brightwater Environmental Education/Community Center receives state grant Apr. 24, 2007 Guided tours, volunteer work party at Soaring Eagle Regional Park Hiking, biking and running tours, plus park clean-up party, set for April 28 Apr. 23, 2007 Sign up for Brightwater habitat restoration tours, April 28 Apr. 13, 2007 Sims honors Rep. Norm Dicks, 13 others with Green Globe Awards Leader in Water Quality Protection: Terry Lavender, Bear Creek Apr. 8, 2007 External Article,Seattle P-I Green treatment given to site of Brightwater sewage treatment plant Mar. 21, 2007 External Article, Seattle Times "Zero-energy" homes planned in Issaquah A "zero-energy" home is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes Mar. 9, 2007 Brightwater habitat project draws international visitors Feb. 20, 2007 Public invited to tour Brightwater habitat restoration site, March 3 Dec. 29, 2006 Volunteers needed to clear storm debris at King County’s Marymoor Park Nov. 28, 2006 King County to again offer free disposal of debris from flood damage, Dec. 2-3 Nov. 13, 2006 Sims pays tribute to Harvey Manning Long-time trails and wildlands preservation advocate leaves legacy of habitat protection   » Archived News and announcements » Related Organizations » King County Watersheds Map

Community Service Center
Information about King County satellite offices including one in Sammamish at the address, 801 - 228th Ave SE, Sammamish, WA 98075, phone number, 425-295-0750. To the north in Bear Creek, visit the Cottage Lake Community Center near Redmond.

Basin Steward Program
Look up watershed experts to get answers to questions and help solve watershed related problems. For more information about the Sammamish Watershed, or to get involved in basin activities contact one of the Basin Stewards in the Sammamish Watershed:

Issaquah Creek and Bear Creek
Tom Beavers, 206-205-5620

Surface Water and Groundwater

Introduction to Watersheds

Lake Sammamish Story
Learn about past and current pollution problems on Lake Sammamish, and what King County is doing to protect the lake.

Lake Sammamish Water Quality Data
This page offers an overview of Lake Sammamish water quality issues and provides graphs of water quality data from several sampling locations on the lake, spanning years. Graphs display temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll, bacteria, tranparency, and other data.

Swimming Beach Surveys
Find information about levels of bacterial pollution and relative health risks at swimming beaches on Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish and other King County lakes.

Streams Monitoring Program
Keeping watch for pollution in greater Lake Washington streams including those in the Sammamish Watershed. Water quality data are available online for:

• Bear Creek, Cottage Lake Creek and Evans Creek
• Ebright Creek
• Eden (Zuccuse) Creek
• Idlewood Creek
• Issaquah Creek
• Lewis Creek
• Little Bear Creek
• North Creek
• Pine Lake Creek
• Sammamish River
• Swamp Creek
• Tibbetts Creek

Endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment
Learn about these natural and synthetic chemicals flushed daily into our waters, and discover what King County is doing to protect public health and the environment as the science and our understanding of endocrine disruptors develops.

Redmond-Bear Creek Valley Groundwater Management Area
Issaquah Valley Groundwater Management Area
Learn about plans to protect the aquifer in areas spanning the Sammamish watershed including Woodinville, Redmond, Sammamish, Issaquah and areas in between.

Sediment Quality Evaluation in Lake Sammamish, Lake Union, and Lake Washington
Report of chemical and biological substances, their distribution and toxicity, and benthic communities at various sample sites.

Small Streams Toxicity/Pesticide Studies
Reports on toxic substances such as pesticides and metals in streams draining to Lake Washington.

Bear Creek and Cottage Lake Creek Mussel Survey
Freshwater mussels are a strong indicator of water quality. This report provides information about freshwater Mussels found in Bear and Cottage Lake Creeks during Habitat Assessments in 2001.

Sammamish Watershed Map
Drainage map displaying streams, lakes, drainage divides, major roads, in King County and Snohomish County portions of the Sammamish River Watershed. The map is in Adobe Acrobat format. File size is 426 Kb.

Issaquah Creek Map

The Lake Washington Studies
Learning how to keep the sockeye running.

Issaquah Basin Plan summary

East Lake Sammamish report summary (1994)

Bear Creek Program report summary (1994)

Building a Beaver Deceiver
Example of a technique to keep beavers from damming stormwater facilities, located at Peterson Pond in the Sammamish watershed.

Salmon & Trout Recovery

WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery
Lake Washington, Cedar River, Sammamish
This site provides information about the recovery of threatened salmon species in the Sammamish, Lake Washington, and Cedar River drainage area including an overview of the planning process, scientific information, and meeting records. We welcome your participation.

• Final WRIA 8 Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan
  Cedar River, Sammamish, Lake Washington
• Final WRIA 8 Near-term Action Agenda for Salmon Habitat Conservation
  Interim measures undertaken while multi-jurisdictional partners worked on thea long-term conservation plan for salmon habitat in the Lake Washington, Cedar River, and Sammamish watershed.
• Salmon recovery projects funded for WRIA 8
  Over $4.8 million have been awarded to fund projects that preserve and recover salmon habitat, from the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) from 1999 through 2004.
• Timing, abundance, and population characteristics of spawning Chinook salmon in the Cedar/Sammamish Watershed (Acrobat format)
• 2001 Salmon Spawning Surveys in Selected Tributaries of the Cedar River, Washington
  Results of 2001 surveys that identified the distribution and abundance of spawning salmon in four major tributaries of the Cedar River-- Rock Creek, Peterson, Taylor, and Walsh Lake Creek.
• Known Freshwater Distribution of Salmon and Trout
  Draft maps showing Chinook, Coho, Cutthroat Trout, Kokanee, Sockeye, and Steelhead Distribution in the greater Lake Washington watershed (WRIA 8), based on the collective personal knowledge of resource professionals and data gathered from published and unpublished databases.

Willowmoor Reach Restoration
Read an overview of this project to restore habitat on the upper Sammamish River in Marymoor Park, review its timeline and find contact information. The project will reconfigure 1,400 feet of the Sammamish River to improve and expand the habitat available for fish and wildlife -- while maintaining current flood protection on the river and along the Lake Sammamish shoreline.

Current Status of Kokanee in the Lake Washington Basin

Habitat Inventory and Assessment of Three Sammamish River Tributaries: North, Swamp, and Little Bear Creeks (Acrobat format)

Flooding and Hydrology

Issaquah Creek Flood Information
View real-time gage data and map for Issaquah Creek and learn about expected conditions at various flood phases.

Hydrologic Gage Data Map
Look up detailed gaging station data for creeks in the region.

Wastewater Treatment

Lake Shorelines, Life on the Edge Video Series (Windows Media format)
Watch a video that describes lakes in King County and how residents value them, with ideas that shoreline landowners may like to apply to help preserve the quality of lakes and lake ecosystems.

King County Natural Areas:
Look up individual properties protected in King County's open space system for their ecological and working resource values. The natural lands site provides addresses, pictures, location maps and rules for public use:

• Bassett Pond Natural Area
• Cold Creek and Bassett Pond Natural Areas
• Evans Creek Natural Area
• Issaquah Creek Park Natural Area
• Kathyrn C. Lewis Natural Area
• Log Cabin Reach Natural Area
• Lower Bear Creek Natural Area
• Taylor Mountain Forest

East Lake Sammamish Trail
This scenic and safe regional trail hugs Lake Sammamish and runs from the city of Issaquah to Redmond, connecting Lake Sammamish State Park at the south end with King County's Marymoor Park at the north end of Lake Sammamish.

Burke-Gilman Trail
Sammamish River Trail
King County's beloved regional trail hugs Lake Washington and the Sammamish River to provide a link between the Cities of Seattle, Lake Forest Park, Bothell, Redmond and the crown jewel of our parks system, Marymoor Park.

BNSF Eastside Rail Corridor
Describes a King County effort to save a 47 mile rail corridor to turn into a trail for the public.

Marymoor Park
The largest and most diverse destination park in King County's portfolio of Parks. Provides hundreds of acres of nature and offers a wide variety of recreation options including birdwatching, rock climbing, fishing, off-leash dog walking, bike racing, team sports, outdoor concerts and movies and just being.

Boating on the Sammamish River: review our flooding & habitat project locations, and hyperlink to the boaters page for safety tips, boaters' signals, and other useful info.

Lands

Puget Sound Fresh
Look up Sammamish Valley u-pick farms, community-supported farms, nurseries and produce markets.

Forestry Topics
Comprehensive information related to forestry across King County including parts of the Sammamish Watershed.

Agriculture Topics
Comprehensive information related to agriculture in King County including parts of the Sammamish Watershed.

Redmond Ridge and Blakely Ridge Urban Planned Developments
News and information about these two planned developments which together cover 2126 acres of the Bear Creek basin in the northern Sammamish watershed.

Historic and Recent Aerial Photographs
Aerial photos from the 1930's, 1970's, and 1990's illustrating growth around Cottage Lake, among other areas in King County.

For questions about the Water and Land Resources Web site, please contact Fred Bentler, webmaster.

Department of Natural Resources and Parks
Water and Land Resources Division

Updated: May 6, 2008

Related Information:

The Watershed Index Map

Water and Land Resources Topics