Port of Seattle Provides Funding for Watershed Rehabilitation

-Outside groups receive a total of $300,000 for restoration projects near Sea-Tac Airport-

Communities near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport will have help in restoring streams, controlling weeds along Miller and Walker Creeks and making other environmental improvements thanks to $300,000 in grants from the Port of Seattle.

"We are very pleased to be able to support community restoration and enhancement efforts like these that have such a broad benefit in South King County," said Commission President Patricia Davis.

Davis announced the grants today and noted that they will benefit two watersheds.

"The suite of projects spans the Miller/Walker Creek Basin from First Avenue South to Puget Sound and the entire Des Moines Creek Basin, and complements the Port's stream and wetland mitigation efforts on airport property," Davis said.

The restoration is part of the Port's planning to mitigate the impacts of construction at the airport, including the third runway. The goal of the program is to help outside groups improve sections of the creeks that are not on Port property. In addition, the Port is restoring and protecting creeks, wetlands and buffer on 119 acres of airport property, and creating and restoring wetlands and buffer on 68 Port-owned acres near the Green River in Auburn. The cost of these efforts is $150,000 to $200,000 per acre, totaling about $28 to $37 million.

Half the watershed restoration funding, $150,000, is going to the Des Moines Creek Basin Planning Committee for projects in the Des Moines Creek watershed. In its application for the funds, the committee stated that the money will be used for the preliminary design of eight basin-wide projects, and to complete the design and construction of two or three of the projects. These projects are expected to restore a more natural flow in Des Moines Creek as well as create and restore habitat.

The other $150,000 will be divided between four projects in the Miller/Walker Creek watershed. They include:

$60,000 toward the Southwest Suburban Sewer District's stream restoration and rehabilitation of salmon habitat in the portion of Miller Creek that runs by the sewer district's facility at 1015 S.W. 174th St., Normandy Park;

$35,000 toward the cost of a King County Noxious Weed Control Board survey and weed control along Miller and Walker creeks;

$30,000 toward the City of Burien's expansion of Ambaum Regional Pond in Burien, which is expected to benefit the entire basin by reducing flows downstream that scour the streambed and destroy salmon habitat; and

$25,000 toward the cost of Normandy Park Community Club's stream restoration and rehabilitation of salmon habitat at "The Cove," a community waterfront park. This project is part of an extensive stream and habitat restoration effort by a team of community members.

Representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Washington State Department of Ecology reviewed the applications and selected the funding recipients. The Corps and Ecology regulate the airport's environmental-mitigation activities, which are based on a mitigation plan developed by the Port and approved by the two agencies. A requirement of the environmental permitting for the third runway and other construction at the airport, the environmental planning included a commitment for the Port to make funding available for outside groups to undertake mitigation work in the Des Moines Creek Basin and Miller/Walker Creek Basin.

The Port set aside the $300,000 from airport revenue sources that include things like airline landing fees, concessions and parking.

King County; the cities of Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park and SeaTac; tribal governments; special districts; and non-profit organizations (or combinations of such governments/groups) were invited to apply.