Penny Creek is urban urban creek in Mill Creek, WA, and is a tributary creek to the more major regional creek, North Creek. The creek flows from the Penny Creek Natural Area in Mill Creek, flows through the Mill Creek Community Association golf course, and an associated natural area with a paved trail. It eventually travels under SR527, the Bothell-Everett Highway just south of Mill Creek Road, and joins North Creek. The culvert for Penny Creek under SR527 is scheduled for replacement with a more fish-passable culvert by 2027.

Golf balls from the golf course often end up in Penny Creek.

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• Stream temperatures are usually at safe levels for fish but dissolved oxygen levels have dipped below healthy standards for salmonids during multiple monitoring events.
• Bacteria levels are usually safe for recreational contact, though counts are sometimes high after heavy rain events, or in the summer months.
• pH, alkalinity, and hardness tests were mostly within a standard range during this sampling time period. Readings out of the normal range might indicate water pollution or contamination.
• Turbidity (stream clarity) is usually good, but there are occasional highly turbid periods, likely associated with rainfall or storms.
• Construction activity and land use including the nearby golf course affect water quality.

Penny Creek Water Watchers

Nancy is a retired high school chemistry teacher who enjoys engaging in citizen science projects. In addition to the SnoKing Watershed Council, she measures daily precipitation for the CoCoRaHS network, counts backyard birds for the Cornell FeederWatch program, and contributes bird reports to eBird. She also volunteers at the pollinator garden at Adopt a Stream, and participates in Snohomish County Master Gardener activities. In her spare time, she is often birding or learning how to do bird and macro photography. She has spent the first three years of her retirement digging up her lawn and installing native plants to provide bird and insect habitats.

Nancy Flowers

Water Watcher and a member of the Sno-King Watershed Council.

Major support for our program comes from the King County Wastewater Treatment Division Waterworks grant program. Additional support is provided by the Cascade Water Alliance.