Rebecca Ponzio, Puget Sound Policy Specialist, Washington Environmental Council
Long-term city planning doesn’t typically make front page news, but it is essential for thoughtful, integrated use of the landscape. The City of Burien is doing just that through a regional stormwater management system for the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA), an approximately 100 acre package of land located to the north of the third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport. Burien is on the front lines of integrating improved land uses with low-impact development techniques, a trail network for transportation and recreation, and stormwater facilities along the Miller Creek corridor.
Read more…
http://wecprotects.org/issues-campaigns/puget-sound/protecting-puget-sound-with-urban-planning
Social networks and Orca survival
Interesting article from the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound! https://www.eopugetsound.org/magazine/is/orca-social-bonds
Students Saving Salmon restore Shell Creek stream bank
From My Edmonds News (http://myedmondsnews.com/2017/10/students-saving-salmon-students-restore-shell-creek-stream-bank/):
It was a perfect fall Saturday morning as the Edmonds-Woodway High School Students Saving Salmon club gathered with club advisor Joe Scordino and others to continue their restoration work along the banks of Shell Creek just south of Holy Rosary Church.
“Our past work here has been focused on removing invasive plants like blackberry and bindweed,” Scordino explained (see My Edmonds News coverage of this work here). “Today we’re putting in native plants to help give this section of the stream an ecological boost that will make it more hospitable to spawning salmon.”
Saturday’s plantings included Salal, Snowberry, Western hemlock and Sitka spruce. The plants were provided through funding from the Rose Foundation and their Puget Sound Stewardship program.
— Story and photos by Larry Vogel (follow link for more photos on My Edmonds News website)
Stream Bugs Indicate Stream Health
King County recently completed a grant-funded study that used environmental
monitoring data to identify and prioritize stream basins across the
Puget Sound region for restoration and protection. This work represents
an exciting development: Instead of simply describing the conditions in
streams and their contributing basins, the information derived from stream
monitoring data are being used to define strategies to protect and
restore these areas.
Illegal Parking Lot Highlights Silt Problems n Area Streams
Eric Adman canoes past a restoration planting site, at right, along Swamp Creek on Dec. 20 in Kenmore.(Andy Bronson / The Herald)
http://www.heraldnet.com/news/illegal-parking-lot-highlights-silt-problems-in-area-streams
SKWC Newsletter
The Sno-King Watershed Council has put together our first very own newsletter!
Would you like to learn more about the Sno-King Watershed Council, view the invitation to our annual Summer Shindig, see the latest about our Water Watchers program, and learn more about Friends of North Creek Forest?
You can view the newsletter by either clicking on the image or by clicking on the link here.
The Steady Decline of Salmon Runs to Lake Washington
by AARON KUNKLER, Bothell Reporter Reporter
Salmon runs used to be a prominent feature of Lake Washington and Puget Sound, but their numbers have dramatically declined following decades of shoreline development, contamination and increasing wetland urbanization, prompting ecology experts to galvanize governments and private landowners to try and carve out a place for salmon in the rapidly developing greater Seattle area.
KCD Program Sponsors Streamside Restoration in King County
Salmon habitat restoration efforts have thousands of miles to go in King County. Hundreds of those miles are on private property, which is why King Conservation District is launching a new Urban Shorelines program to assist with restoration costs. Read & view more here…
http://www.king5.com/story/tech/science/environment/2015/12/31/king-conservation-district-salmon-habitat-restoration-urban-shorelines-program/78158964/
Snohomish County Airport Appeal
The Sno-King Watershed Council (SKWC) has appealed the Snohomish County Airport’s Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) decision to construct a stormwater detention pond in a high value Category II wetland near Paine Field and the headwaters of Swamp Creek. We are asking the County to withdraw its DNS and prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
For more info, follow this link to our page:
http://snokingwatershedcouncil.org/snohomish-county-airport-appeal/
Sno-King Water Watchers Program
Sno-King Water Watchers Program
Sno-King Watershed Council recently was awarded two grants to start a community-based water monitoring (CBWM) program in the north King /south Snohomish county area.
Our goal is to foster watershed stewardship through the development of volunteer water monitors. Citizens will monitor physical, chemical and biological indicators of watershed fitness. Monitors can use their data for protection and restoration of watersheds, streams and lakes, advocacy for the improvement of water quality and public health, and to implement environmental education programs.
We recently held three water monitoring workshops on June 17, 18, and 19, 2015.
The workshops included:
June 17 – Introduction to water monitoring & bacteriological monitoring.
June 18 – Water chemistry monitoring.
June 19 – Biological indicators of stream health.
While the workshops are over, we are still recruiting people interested in volunteering for this project. If you are interested, contact Eric Adman at snokingwatershedcouncil@gmail.com, or call 425-780-9731
![D6Zeqm_T[1]](http://snokingwatershedcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/D6Zeqm_T1-e1427947681258.jpeg)
![Puget-Soundkeeper[1]](http://snokingwatershedcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Puget-Soundkeeper1-e1427946971380.jpg)