State announces its official recommendation for future of Capitol Lake
.jpg)
The state’s Department of Enterprise Services will recommend allowing Capitol Lake to revert to an estuary, its final Environmental Impact Statement for Capitol Lake says.
It’s really the only choice, if the water is to ever meet state quality standards again, according to an Oct. 31 news release from the DES.
Estuary restoration achieves project goals such as improving water quality and managing sediment better than the other alternatives, which were managing the lake as is or creating a hybrid of a lake and estuary. An estuary also will allow for more community use, with healthier waters for recreation. And it restores more than 80 acres of marsh habitat that once existed in the area.
The estuary option also has the broadest stakeholder support, according to the EIS.
Along with allowing boating throughout the lake basin and West Bay, the state says boardwalks, a dock and a boat launch would be constructed. The Fifth Avenue Bridge and Dam would be removed, creating a 500-foot opening in its place that would restore tidal flow and allow the Deschutes River to flow into the inlet.
A new bridge would be constructed with bicycle and pedestrian lanes.
Key elements of the Estuary Alternative include:
- Initial dredging in the Middle and North Basins of the lake during project construction
- Establishing shoreline habitat in the Middle and North Basins
- A new Fifth Avenue Bridge south of the existing dam and bridge, with vehicle lanes, bicycle lanes, and sidewalks in each direction
- Removal of the Fifth Avenue Dam
- Boardwalks in the Middle and South Basins
- Restoration of boating and fishing
- Implementation of a Habitat Enhancement Plan
- Recurring maintenance dredging in West Bay.
Monday’s news release included statements from local leaders, including Gov. Jay Inslee, who said the Final EIS is a turning point in decades of work between local jurisdictions and in coordination with the Squaxin Island Tribe.
“I appreciate the commitments and efforts of everyone to ensure these plans help improve the ecosystems that support Chinook salmon and Southern Resident orcas,” Inslee said.
Squaxin Island Tribe chair Kristopher Peters said the Deschutes Estuary has long-standing cultural and spiritual significance to the tribe.
“Restoration of the Deschutes Estuary is a meaningful step toward the larger effort to improve the health of the Deschutes Watershed for native species,” Peters said in the release. “It also compliments Department of Ecology water quality improvement plans for the upper watershed and in Budd Inlet and Port of Olympia plans to address contaminated sediment.”
Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby said the city is in full support of the estuary and Memorandum of Understanding that outlines the work and funding plan. Several agencies, including the city and state, will pay for the restoration project, if all goes according to plan.
“Estuary restoration is best aligned with our regional climate adaptation goals and would help reduce flooding in downtown Olympia,” Selby said. “Removing the 5th Avenue Dam and freeing the Deschutes will also begin to address the social justice and equity impacts to our local tribes and is a rare opportunity to restore scarce tidelands and the overall habitat of the Salish Sea.”
The funding and governance plan goes through 2050 and includes who’s responsible for what, including sediment dredging schedules, boardwalk and bridge construction and more.
A Community Sounding Board meeting is planned for 6:30–8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1 on Zoom. The Webinar ID is 160 359 1383.
There will be a Joint Executive and Funding & Governance Work Group meeting at 9 a.m. Nov. 7. More information can be found online.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 11:18 AM.
.jpg)