Is Lake Sammamish dying?

Dying a Slow Death?

Some officials say water quality on Lake Sammamish has improved, but fear water pollution will worsen without intervention by government, residents

A rainy day at Idylwood Park in Redmond offers at least two views of Lake Sammamish.  In one view, its beauty: The lake¹s expanse yawns beneath green hills; Idylwood Creek tumbles under a log, birds peck seeds from the wet grass.  A second look picks out the signs of civilization: Townhomes march toward the water, houses creep up the hillsides. A sign explains that the city spent millions restoring the damaged creek, over which cars now roar, spraying oil and other chemicals that have dripped onto the wet roadway directly back in.  Finally, the rain will bring to the lake the polluted erosion of 98 square miles of watershed that grows more developed, and more harmful, every year.

In fact, Lake Sammamish was one of 700 waterways the state Ecology Department pronounced polluted last month.  The department put the lake in Category 5, the most polluted category, for its low oxygen levels, polluted sediment, excess ammonia and fecal coliform. In 1998, the lake made the list for its high phosphorous levels.

So is Lake Sammamish dying?

Not yet, say government officials and a local environmental group, but that depends on what residents, developers and governments do now and in the future.

Vulnerable waters

"The water quality is not great. It¹s not really bad, either, but it is very, very vulnerable," said Joanna Buehler, president of Save Lake
Sammamish, an organization of 600 residents in Redmond, Sammamish and other cities in the watershed. The group works to preserve the lake¹s water quality.

Jonathan Frodge, who monitors the lake for the county¹s Natural Resources and Parks department, agrees. Its water quality is good, he said, considering that development surrounds it, but that quality is precarious, he said. "It¹s (the lake) like my teenage girls: I love them and think they¹re
wonderful, but I always worry about them," he said. "If you¹re going to maintain a part of the environment you appreciate, you have to worry about
it, do something about it, to fix the problems that are there now."

So what is the problem with Lake Sammamish?

Lake pollution

Development has stripped the land of trees, which held soil in place. That means that rain washes more soil, with its phosphorous and other chemicals,
into streams and the lake.  The residents of the watershed, which extends from Everett through Redmond all the way to Hobart, compound the problem with activities such as over-fertilizing, building bulkheads and dumping chemicals down storm drains.

These activities increase the level of phosphorous and other chemicals in the lake, which leads to algae blooms. And they raise its bacteria levels.
The algae blooms suck up oxygen, which makes it harder for fish to live.  Less fish in the lake means less food for native birds such as the blue
heron, Buehler said.  Algae blooms also can make the lake smell and look bad. Some, though not all, are toxic, like the low-level bloom that occurred two years ago.  Several years ago, a large bloom closed the lake, said Frodge.  "There¹s been more than one bloom every summer since 1996," said Buehler, though they often don¹t cover the whole lake.

But she¹s seen how bad the blooms can get.  "In 1992, there was this yellow scum all over the lake," she said. "I thought somebody had dumped paint in there, the color they use for drawing highway lines."  If the pollution worsened considerably, the lake could be closed to recreation.

Recent improvements
The water¹s quality has improved since 1996, Frodge said, thanks in part to the county's 1995 Lake Sammamish Initiative.  The plan identified sources of phosphorous and ways to reduce them.  The lake¹s phosphorous levels have fallen every year since 1996, from 22 micrograms per liter that year to 14 micrograms per liter in 2003.  Before 1996, phosphorous levels had climbed every year for a 10-year period.  By the initiative¹s standards, the lake¹s transparency has risen and fallen but has passed muster every year.  However, the lake failed to meet its water quality goals for chlorophyll-a in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003.  How could the activities of individuals, local governments and developers
impact the lake¹s precarious water quality in the future?

The role of governments and developers
Local governments are swimming in regulations and programs aimed at protecting water bodies by regulating how houses are built and what can be
dumped down a storm drain, among other activities.  For example, Redmond¹s Shoreline Master Program, a set of policies and regulations, implements state laws that protect waterways.  The city is updating the program this month, which could mean more stringent rules about how close to the lake developers can build, for example.  The problem, some say, is that local cities don¹t enforce all of the rules all the time.  "The dilemma is how do you bring people into the environmental ethic by passing all these rules and regulations that big builders get around and small people ignore, while a few honor them?" said City Councilman Jim Robinson.

Buehler agrees.  "They have lots of regulations but they don¹t enforce them," she said. "If people don¹t apply for permits and are caught, usually all they get is a slap on the wrist. The department of Ecology and the local jurisdictions need to enforce the regulations of the Shoreline Management Act."  For example, builders and developers don¹t always do proper erosion control, Buehler said.  "Sometimes I think it¹s ignorance," she said. "Sometimes they¹re trying to get the job done and they don¹t think whatever it is will cause that much damage. Others don¹t give a damn and will rinse their cement trucks down the nearest storm drain."

On the bright side, the city of Redmond and the county have spent money on projects that help the lake. For example, Redmond spent $3 million to
restore Idylwood creek, which drains into the lake, and is currently working on other streams and in other environmental programs.
The city also offers education programs, as does the county, who monitors water quality daily.
The role of individuals  Governments alone aren¹t responsible for the damage, Buehler said.  "Yes, the government can always do more, but King County, for example, has a very good lakes program, and has done some very good things," she explained.

Individuals play a major role in polluting the lake, she believes.  "To be fair, it¹s all of us," she said. "If one or two people lived in the watershed and behaved horribly, it wouldn¹t make that much difference, but when you have thousands of people, keeping pets and not cleaning up after pet waste, washing paint brushes down storm drains and washing their car, it all has a cumulative impact."

Frodge agrees.  "The major source of pollution is the residents, and it¹s a diffused source," he said. "It¹s everyone who¹s in the watershed, it¹s the businesses and the roads and the cars, everything contributes a little bit and lots of little bits add up."  The death of the lake is avoidable, he said, but people need to change behaviors such as fertilizing as often as they want and taking out trees. Buehler hopes that people will act in the lake¹s best interest as development builds up its watershed even more.  "We have this incredible treasure in our backyard," she said. "A lot of people use it and would be very upset if it were no longer fishable and swimmable. The lake is a treasure."

Sarah Koenig can be reached at (425) 453-4613 or by e-mail at sarah.koenig@reporternewspapers.com.

Return to SLS Latest News