King County Executive Ron Sims, King County Councilmembers Dwight Pelz and Greg Nickels, Evergreen High School students, and the South Park community today celebrated the daylighting of a section of the “lost” fork of Hamm Creek.
“Restoring our urban creeks to their natural state is an important part of our Earth Legacy effort. Not only do these daylighting projects improve habitat for salmon, but they also serve as educational tools to remind us how important it is to preserve our environment everywhere, including our urban areas. I’d like to thank community activist John Beal for making this project happen,” said Executive Sims.
“Hamm Creek is an outstanding example of a once polluted creek that has been turned into a tributary that now has a thriving ecosystem. It just goes to show what the community can do when it works together on a project,” said Councilmember Pelz.
“One of the best ways for people to foster an appreciation for the natural environment is to roll up their sleeves and get involved right in their own backyard,” said Councilmember Nickels. “Folks getting involved to preserve and restore Hamm and other creeks is the kind of stewardship of our natural resources that is critical as our region grows. I applaud this community’s efforts.”
The location of this creek daylighting project is on the west side of King County’s South Park Farm, a community garden near State Route 509 in the South Park neighborhood. The primary feature of the project involves the creation of a 250 foot stream channel along 4th Avenue South, allowing the creek to come out of a pipe and into the open air. Crews also have significantly increased the size of the pipes on both ends of the creek channel, and added a natural filtration system to clean oil and other pollutants from the creek. Clay was recycled from the baseball field at the Kingdome and used to line the creek channel.
“This is a great demonstration project, showing how streams can survive in an urban and industrial setting, and coexist with farming. It will also improve flooding in the local area and water quality downstream,” said Beal.
The daylighted stream channel will serve as an outdoor classroom for local students. Students from Concord Elementary School and Evergreen High School have already been to the site to plant native vegetation and to learn about stream biology.
This daylighting project is the first phase of a plan to daylight several sections of this “lost” fork of Hamm Creek and connect it with the mainstem Hamm Creek, which ultimately feeds into the Duwamish River. Beal believes if this lost fork can be connected with the Duwamish that salmon will return all the way to South Park Farm.
This project was funded by the King County Park System, the King County Department of Natural Resources, and the Seattle Drainage and Wastewater Utility.
