Fish and wildlife habitat enhancement under way at King County’s Chinook Bend Natural Area

Volunteers needed for additional habitat work in November, December

A unique partnership between King County, the City of Carnation and Ducks Unlimited is resulting in improved fish and wildlife habitat along the Snoqualmie River, which is home to endangered chinook salmon.

Construction is complete on the first step of a reclaimed water wetland enhancement project at Chinook Bend Natural Area, just north of Carnation. The 59-acre ecological land, which is valuable as salmon spawning habitat and for other wildlife, was donated to the county in 2000 by Nestle USA, with the stipulation that it be preserved and enhanced for fish and wildlife, and for passive recreational use.

Volunteer habitat restoration opportunities are scheduled for Nov. 17 and Dec. 8. Participants will plant native trees at Chinook Bend from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. To volunteer, contact Tina Miller, King County natural lands volunteer coordinator, at 206-296-2990 or tina.miller@kingcounty.gov.

The habitat enhancement project will use highly treated wastewater from Carnation's new treatment plant, which is being built by King County and is scheduled to come online in 2008.

The reclaimed water produced by the treatment plant and used at the restoration site will meet Class A standards, the strictest standards set by the state departments of Ecology and Health. Reclaimed water goes through additional filtering and disinfecting processes compared to conventional sewage treatment.

Restoration efforts at Chinook Bend have occurred in stages. In the first phase, volunteers have planted more than 8,000 trees over the past seven years to create a forested floodplain in the former pasture.  

This wetland design incorporates moist soil management techniques to control invasive reed canary grass and enhance marsh and forested wetlands with native plantings, while a fish-passable water control structure has been installed to manage wetland water levels. An old culvert and pipe system that drained the wetland was removed, day-lighting the water flowing out of the wetlands into an existing stream channel.

The project is also increasing the size and complexity of the wetland. Minor earthwork has created hummocks, depressions and a more diverse shoreline. The earth work and water control structure has just been completed. Plantings of native plants and the soil moisture management will take place over the next two years.

Wetland enhancement is the latest in a series of improvements at Chinook Bend Natural Area. King County staff received a grant from the Recreation and Conservation Funding Board, Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account that will pay for a safer parking lot for the site, ADA accessible trails, and a river and wetland overlook with interpretive signage.

Public art will also be added to the site. Betsy Damon, an internationally acclaimed environmental artist, was selected by 4Culture to design the art for this project. The goal of the art is to celebrate the use of reclaimed water as a water resource and enhance interpretive facilities at the site. These steps will require a year for planning and permitting and won't be constructed until 2009. 

A proposal is under consideration to remove a portion of the levee to allow the Snoqualmie River to flow through the site and create a more active stream channel. This will restore key ecological processes that have been lost on the Snoqualmie River and benefit Puget Sound Chinook salmon, an Endangered Species Act-protected species. 

For more information on the project, call 206-296-8361 or visit the project Web site, http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/carnation/.

People enjoy clean water and a healthy environment because of King County's wastewater treatment program. The county's Wastewater Treatment Division protects public health and water quality by serving 17 cities, 17 local sewer districts and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Formerly called Metro, the regional clean-water agency now operated by King County has been preventing water pollution for more than 40 years.