Capitol Lake update: Key environmental study comes next

The plan for Capitol Lake’s future has taken yet another tiny step in trying to solve the divisive lake-estuary debate that has dragged on for decades.

A committee of local, state and tribal stakeholders is submitting a report to the Legislature that outlines possible long-term management plans for the 260-acre, state-owned lake in downtown Olympia. The report identifies goals and options for the lake such as leaving the lake as a lake, restoring it to an estuary, or building a hybrid of both.

The committee will request funding to move on to the second phase: an Environmental Impact Statement, a study that will examine the positive and negative environmental effects of any project. If funded, the second phase could begin in late 2017 or early 2018, according to the state Department of Enterprise Services.

The state has included $4 million in Gov. Jay Inslee’s 2017-2019 Capital Budget to go toward an EIS, and this study is required before any permits can be issued.

Partners in the planning effort include the state Department of Enterprise Services, the cities of Olympia and Tumwater, Thurston County, Squaxin Island Tribe, Port of Olympia and state departments of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Fish and Wildlife.

Although a solution to the lake-estuary debate is several years away, the committee is exploring multiple options:

▪ A restored estuary that would create a 500-foot opening at the Fifth Avenue Dam.

▪ A managed lake similar to today’s.

▪ A managed lake with a stream bed that connects Percival Creek with Budd Inlet.

▪ A hybrid option that would establish a saltwater estuary on one side of the lake with a reflecting pool on the other side.

▪ A hybrid option with a larger reflecting pool and freshwater input instead of saltwater.

This story was originally published January 23, 2017 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Capitol Lake update: Key environmental study comes next."