City receives award for conservation

The City of Sammamish has been recognized by the King Conservation District as an outstanding steward of the environment.

The conservation district is a local government agency that uses a small proportion of the Special Assessment Collections component of property tax to help implement conservation programs or undertake environmentally sound restoration work.

The city received the Local Government Conservation Award for its work on two conservation district funded projects - the Gazebo Bog Culvert Replacement and the Zaccuse Creek improvement.

At Zaccuse Creek, which flows into Lake Sammamish to the north of the city, near Weber Point, a local landowner approached the council, concerned that the creek flowed entirely through a culvert.

According to Eric LaFrance, the City of Sammamish's Senior Stormwater Program Engineer, money from the conservation district enabled the city to "daylight" the small creek, bring it closer to its natural state and providing a better habitat for fish and insects.

"It shouldn't be too long before the creek returns to homeostases," he said.

"Anytime we can 'daylight' a stream or creek, it is always a good thing."

At the Gazebo Bog, to the east of the Sahalee Golf and Country Club, the outlet culvert from the bog was cleared and improved, to keep water levels relatively constant, a more natural state for the bog.

This will also help prevent flooding of neighboring properties.

LaFrance said that with the conservation district funding, projects such as these would most likely not be completed.

"There are a lot of demands on the funding we have for works projects," he said. "So the contribution of the conservation district are very important, particularly to improve our impacted waterways."

"In the past we have done a lot of building without doing a lot of mitigation, and so it's great to be able to do some retro-fitting."

Landowner Cory Huskinson of Fall City was recognized for his efforts to protect and enhance natural resources on his property on Patterson Creek near Fall City.

He received a Small Farm Management Plan from the District in 2007 and has been actively implementing the practices detailed in plan—including fish and wildlife habitat enhancements and pasture and manure management.

He has also encouraged neighbors to take advantage of the District’s programs, services and expertise, and two landowners immediately downstream from his property have implemented stream buffer projects to protect and restore fish and wildlife habitat on their property with assistance from the district.

Contact Sammamish Reporter Editor Jake Lynch at editor@sammamish-reporter.com.

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