Washington Park Arboretum Creek Water Quality Enhancements

Updated: November 17, 2020

Fall 2020

The Friends of Arboretum Creek (FOAC) are continuing efforts to reunite clean, year-round water sources with Arboretum Creek.

In 2018, with support from a King County grant, FOAC determined the water in Alder and Alley Springs is clean and available to be reunited with Arboretum Creek. This clean water is currently routed into the King County Sewer, which reduces needed system capacity.

In 2020, FOAC has continued to expand the organization through community outreach while coordinating with King County, The Arboretum Foundation, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Seattle Parks Foundation, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and the University of Washington Botanic Gardens.

Location

Washington Park Arboretum

Budget

In 2020 FOAC:

  • Hired an engineering team, using a second and newly approved King County grant, to study and refine the design options for reuniting Alder & Alley Springs with Arboretum Creek. You can learn more about this critical opportunity to restore Arboretum Creek on the FOAC website - Friends of Arboretum Creek.
  • Hired a local artist, Gail Wong, via a City of Seattle Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF) grant, to help illustrate the FOAC vision of Arboretum Creek as a flourishing ecosystem.
  • Held a successful virtual Community Meeting, on October 15th, 2020, to review the latest design options and the current state of the visioning artwork. You can review the video of the meeting, or read the Executive Summary, on the FOAC website - Friends of Arboretum Creek.

The Friends of Arboretum Creek plans to continue neighborhood engagement, enhance the website with a flourishing vision of Arboretum Creek, continue to raise funds for restoration and outreach while promoting a mutually-acceptable design for uniting the uphill springs with Arboretum Creek.

Schedule / Community Participation

Community Meeting - The next meeting will be scheduled in 2021 and will include the proposed design option for reuniting Alder and Alley Springs with Arboretum Creek and the evolving vision for the Arboretum Creek ecosystem.

News Items / Links