King County's habitat restoration

King County has worked to restore more than 25 acres of habitat at sites, including:

• Hamm Creek Habitat Restoration Project: together with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, from 1999 - 2000 King County created 2,300 feet of new riparian stream bed and channel for Hamm Creek. The Elliott Bay/Duwamish Restoration Program designed and monitored a one-acre estuarine marsh with fish-passable connection to the Duwamish Waterway. The enhanced freshwater Hamm Creek channel features meanders, fish pools, and large woody debris. The intertidal habitat was planted with native estuarine marsh vegetation in spring 2000.
• Herring's House Park and Intertidal Habitat Restoration Project. Named for a Native American longhouse village that once thrived there, this project was completed in 2000, with monitoring continuing. The work has included removal of mill structures, a shoreline dock, and contaminated sediments. A 1.8 acre intertidal bay was created, with fringing emergent vegetation in an intertidal zone. Riparian vegetation was also planted to create a riparian buffer.
• King County's Cecil B. Moses Memorial Park: At this location extensive mixing of fresh and salt waters creates a key transition zone for young salmon moving downstream to Puget Sound. Restoration work included a fenced-off slough and marsh created to increase habitat.
• North Wind's Weir Restoration Project: Ongoing since 1999, this project at Cecil B. Moses Park is a one-acre basin created to provide off-channel habitat for out-migrating salmonids. Emergent and riparian vegetation has been planted and work continues. Information about the North Wind's Weir project is available at http://www.govlink.org/watersheds/9/plan-implementation/SRFB-northwinds.aspx. View July 28, 2009 news release.
• Turning Basin No. 3. restoration project. This project is located on the former Kenco Marine Services property. An old building, dock, and grounded barges were removed. Fill material was removed to push back the shoreline. Marsh and riparian vegetation were planted. The project was completed in April 2006, with monitoring for intertidal habitat success being conducted through 2015.