Seattle acts to clean up waterways

Stressing the need for the government and residents to work together, Mayor Greg Nickels yesterday announced a citywide initiative to clean up and restore Seattle's lakes, rivers and Puget Sound shoreline.

The plan strives to make local waterways more hospitable to fish, birds and bugs, in part by doing a better job of controlling and filtering polluted stormwater.

The Restore Our Waters initiative comes with no new funding, relying instead on a refocusing at City Hall on water-quality concerns and winning the support of waterfront residents and business owners through incentives.

Many of the projects are already under way or planned but not yet funded. The initiative acknowledges that some of the goals "may not be reachable in our lifetime, but we can still aspire to them."

But there already are technical solutions to deal with many of the problems, said Mike McGinn, a Sierra Club volunteer involved with the effort.

"The challenges aren't as big as they seem," said McGinn, who lives in Greenwood near Piper's Creek. "I want to know that kids playing in that creek are playing in clean water and not pollution washed off the street."

Scientists have found that salmon returning to numerous Seattle creeks often die before laying their eggs. Pollution -- including oil and grease, pesticides and fertilizers washed off roads and landscaped yards -- is a leading suspect in their premature demise.

The city has built retention ponds that improve water filtration and constructed streets that have less concrete and are lined with native plants to help reduce and trap runoff.

A comprehensive drainage plan that's awaiting approval by the Seattle City Council also will deal with some of the water issues.

The plan addresses problems with flooding, increases water quality monitoring in creeks and investigates sources of stormwater contamination.

Other problems affecting local waterways include extensive shoreline development, such as construction of rock walls along the Sound that can contribute to beach erosion.

Streams and creeks have been buried and straightened, and vegetation that provides shade and homes for insects eaten by fish has been cut down.

More than 85 percent of Seattle's shorelines are privately owned and one piece of the plan is a program of incentives and technical assistance to get more property owners to act as stewards.

City officials are considering tax breaks for certain actions that protect the environment and changing regulations to encourage restoration projects. There are also plans to expand citywide environmental education programs.

As a part of the initiative, city departments have adjusted their operations to align them with goals for cleaner, healthier waterways, officials said. The initiative prioritizes capital projects that will improve the marine environment.

The plan "will be good for fish, wildlife and people," Nickels said at a press conference yesterday afternoon in West Seattle. Nearby, construction was under way on a shoreline-restoration project at Luna Park.

For more information on protecting local waterways visit www.seattle.gov/mayor/issues/row.htm.

P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com

Add P-I Local headlines to