WRIA 8 Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed

WRIA 8 – Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed

Project Subcommittee Report April 20th and 21st Fieldtrips and Presentations June 9, 2010 Meeting King Conservation District (KCD) 2010 Grant Cycle

Project Subcommittee Members: Councilmember Don Fiene (City of Lake Forest Park, WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council member); Hans Berge (King County, WRIA 8 Technical Committee); Kathy Minsch (Seattle Public Utilities); Jessica Saavedra, (King Conservation District); Scott Stolnack (WRIA 8 Technical Committee Chair); Brian Ward (City of Bellevue); and Mary Jorgensen (Committee Chair and WRIA 8 Actions and Funding Coordinator).

Funds and WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council’s Recommended Allocation: 2010 King Conservation District (KCD) grant funds for WRIA 8 are $1,172,112. Eighteen applications were received for a total request of $2,286,341, which created a shortfall of over one million (Table 1). At the March WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Council (SRC) meeting, ILA members recommended allocating the funds as follows: 1) monitoring, studies: non-competitive, ~one-quarter or ~25%; 2) site specific projects: ~two-thirds, 67% up to ~ 72%; and 3) studies and public outreach: ~one-twelfth or 8%. Further guidance for the Project Subcommittee was to balance recommendations based on the SRC guidance and on applications received.

Table 1. TOTALS - WRIA 8 KCD Funds 2010 2010 Total KCD Funds $1,172,112 Total Project Amount of Matching Cost Request Funds Total Costs, Requests, and Match $18,186,926 $2,286,341 $16,038,808 Shortfall of funds ($1,114,229)

Project Eligibility and Match Requirement: For KCD funding the project must be within King County and meet the policies of the KCD Board. For WRIA 8 the project must be on the WRIA 8 Plan 10-Year Start-list of actions or within the monitoring chapter. Projects are evaluated for benefits to Chinook and feasibility. Priority is given to Tier I projects in the priority areas of Cedar, Migratory, naturally spawning Sammamish population areas, and other Sammamish population areas. Programs are evaluated by extent of outreach, education quality and salmon message, and reaching new audiences. Match funds are not required for KCD grants.

WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Process: Prior to their fieldtrip and meeting the Project Subcommittee received copies of the KCD applications, criteria/question forms, and KCD policies. The criteria/question forms were substantially revised for 2010, retaining the emphasis on benefit to Chinook, but improving the questions and scoring. On April 20 and 21st the Project Subcommittee members and WRIA 8 staff heard presentations in the morning and then visited

KCD – WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Report Final 7-13-10 site specific projects in the watershed. Project sponsors gave a brief presentation of their project on-site and then responded to questions from the Subcommittee. Handouts, photos, or maps were allowed to be distributed to supplement the KCD application on the fieldtrip or at the presentations.

Due to the large shortfall in funds the Project Subcommittee spent additional time to individually evaluate, score and recommend draft allocations prior to the committee meeting. If needed for clarification, additional questions of applicants were asked to provide a thorough review. On June 9th, the Project Subcommittee reviewed the policies and discussed the conflict of interest statement. Their individual scores and ranking was the starting point of discussing differences between projects. Project Subcommittee members thoroughly discussed the strengths or any issues of each project to reach consensus on a final ranking. Allocation recommendations were based on the following considerations:  Funds would go to Tier I priority area projects first,  Timing – the need for funds this year,  Sufficient funds to complete a project or phase of a project,  Sustain valuable on-going programs,  Use of cost-efficient or creative acquisition methods, such as conservation easements or transfer of development rights (TDR) ,  Provide enough funding to justify administrative costs so funds go into on-the-ground work,  Project cost to salmon benefit.

Summaries of the committee’s final recommendations for allocations are provided in the Tables 2-4 for site specific projects, public outreach, and monitoring, respectively. Following each table are descriptions of the applications, in rank order, with highlights from the Project Subcommittee discussions.

Site Specific Projects - Descriptions and Highlights of Discussion Note: paragraph number equals project rank

1. Cedar River Coordinated Invasive Knotweed Control Project - Phase III – King County This project aims to increase ecosystem health and functioning of riparian forests along the Cedar River and major tributaries through the implementation of a planned approach to control invasive knotweed. Priority actions include: a) on-going survey work; b) develop priorities for control/ eradication; c) community education/outreach; d) rapid response control by work crews at identified high priority areas; e) monitoring and evaluation, and f) replanting in key areas. This program continues to coordinate with Seattle Public Utilities to address invasive knotweed from Landsburg downstream to the Lower Cedar River. Fragments of the plant, even as small as a half-inch, can be carried by floodwater’s into new sites and invest the area. Landowner education and outreach is very important to reducing spreading and re-infestation from private properties unaware of the plant’s invasive nature.

KCD – WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Report Final 7-13-10 Table 2. WRIA 8 KCD 2010 Grants - Summary of Site Specific Projects Recommendations Amou Project nt of Committee Total Requ Recommendation Rank Proposal Name, (Plan #) Project Cost est Matching Funds Cedar River Coordinated Invasive Knotweed Control Project - Phase III. King County - Steven $81,72 $81,725 1 Burke $168,502 5 $86,777 Lower Bear Creek Restoration 2010 (N201) $210,0 $140,000 2 City of Redmond - Roger Dane $10,739,506 00 $10,529,506 Cottage Lake Creek Restoration 2010 (N298, and $75,00 $70,000 3 N282) King County - Tom Beavers $89,747 0 $14,747 Issaquah Creek Restoration (I239, I243, I236) $75,00 $70,000 4 King County - Tom Beavers $189,747 0 $114,747 South Lake Washington Shoreline Restoration Design and Construction (C-269) $68,02 5 City of Renton Airport - Ryan Zulauf $402,500 5 $334,475 $68,025 Issaquah Creek Restoration at Lake Sammamish State Park 2011 (I202) $50,00 6 Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust - Tor Bell $100,000 0 $50,000 $50,000 Upper Kelsey Creek Habitat Restoration Project - Construction Phase (N-469) Mid Puget Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group $30,00 7 Brian Reese $105,000 0 $75,000 $30,000 Issaquah Creek Protection (I249, I250) $250,0 8 King County - Tom Beavers $1,950,000 00 $1,700,000 $250,000 Bear Creek Protection 2010 (N256, N257, N258) $400,0 9 King County - Tom Beavers $900,000 00 $500,000 $0 Beaux Arts Shoreline Restoration Design Permitting (C288B) Western Academy of Beaux Arts - Joann $25,00 10 Bromberg $25,000 0 0 $25,000 Mapes Creek Mouth Restoration (C271) Seattle $325,0 11 Public Utilities - Julie Crittenden $2,691,250 00 $2,366,250 $0 The Boy Scout Property Acquisition ( N371) $225,0 12 City of Bothell -Clark Meek $425,000 00 $200,000 $0 $1,814 Total Request and Match - Site Specific $17,786,252 ,750 $15,684,725 $808,7 Recommended Allocation Targets 57 $784,750 Page 3 KCD – WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Report Final 7-13-10 ($1,00 Shortfall to requests and amount under target 5,993) $24,007

KCD – WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Report Final 7-13-10 Discussion – The Cedar River has many project proposals for levee removal and floodplain reconnection which disturb the soils during construction. Knotweed is the first plant to establish itself in disturbed areas so it was questioned whether the sequencing of removing knotweed prior to the disturbance made sense. It was agreed that knotweed needs to be removed now and that it may come back, particularly in the disturbed sites, as it is very difficult to fully eradicate. The committee agreed that it is a great project that continues to address removal of massive amounts of knotweed that will allow planting of coniferous trees. These future trees will provide the needed forest cover and woody debris for establishing a healthy ecosystem. Recommend- $81,725 for this two year program (100%).

2. Lower Bear Creek Restoration 2010 (N201) – City of Redmond Bear Creek is one of the most productive salmon spawning streams in the Puget Sound area, often with over 30,000 wild fish returning annually, including an average of 200 wild Chinook salmon. This project will restore the lower 3,000 feet of Bear Creek by reconstructing a meandering channel with 1,100 feet of added channel length, installing LWD and spawning gravel, native planting, and restoring off-channel wetlands. The widening of SR-520 both contributed significant funds for the project and placed the highway within 60 feet of the channel, increasing the need to relocate the channel. Archaeological findings have delayed and increased the cost of the project but it is now anticipated to move forward.

Discussion – The impacts of the increased budget for the archaeology was discussed in terms of delays on completion of this project. The committee agreed on the high significance of the project yet felt that some of the increased costs could be absorbed in the $10+million budget. The twelve to fifteen acres of buffer and the rebuilt floodplain are critical to protect Bear Creek. Recommend - $140,000 (66%).

3. Cottage Lake Creek Restoration 2010 (N298, and N282) – King County This project will restore aquatic and riparian processes and habitat along Cottage Lake Creek between Cottage Lake and the confluence with Bear Creek. It will restore the riparian buffer and seek to improve floodplain connectivity. It includes outreach to property owners, removing bank armoring, removing invasive weeds and replanting with native species.

Discussion – As these reaches border private property there was discussion of how to involve the property owners more in the planting of the sites to reduce costs. This project addresses two stream reaches with a combined total of over 9,000 feet and the cost is low for the restoration. Recommend $70,000 (93%).

4. Issaquah Creek Restoration (I239, I243, I236) – King County This project will restore native plants within knotweed kill areas in the Issaquah Creek drainage basin. Eleven miles of the creek has been treated for noxious weed removal. Restoration of native plants will provide shade, reduce bank erosion and fine sediment, and provide food inputs to the waterway.

Discussion – It is important to prevent re-establishment of invasive knotweed as well as providing a healthy native riparian corridor by establishing native plants. This project was seen as cost efficient with high benefit to the Issaquah Creek system. Recommend $70,000 (93%).

5. South Lake Washington Shoreline Restoration Design and Construction (C-269) – City of Renton Airport This project is to construct a new shallow water edge habitat island to supplement the Cedar River delta growth and to restore the shoreline habitat to improve migration of juvenile Chinook. It was funded in 2009 by SRFB for design and permitting.

KCD – WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Report Final 7-13-10 Discussion – The design of this project is experimental with the potential to have very high benefits for migrating juvenile Chinook emerging from the Cedar River. Many committee members questioned whether the project would interfere with the natural deposition of sediment of the current Cedar River delta. This and many other questions were addressed during approval of the project for SRFB 2009 but it remains an experimental project in an excellent location. Improvements to the planting plan are strongly recommended. The project is ready to be built in November and December of this year. Recommend $69,025 (100%).

6. Issaquah Creek Restoration at Lake Sammamish State Park 2011 (I-202) – Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust Restore 4 acres of riparian habitat along 1,000 feet of Issaquah Creek at Lake Sammamish State Park. The upper section of the site is covered in Himalayan blackberry and the lower bench bordering the creek is infested with Bohemian knotweed. This creek-side habitat restoration will focus on control and removal of invasive weeds and the installation of several thousand native plants.

Discussion - This is the last section of restoration with the State Park area and builds on previous KCD grants that have planted thousands of native plants by well-organized volunteer crews. This project provides a wonderful example of the power of volunteers to incrementally restore a large area on a small budget. It was discussed as a potential project to wait until next year but the impact to the momentum and the opportunity to complete this effort was seen as valuable. The request was not reduced in order to ensure the on-the-ground work would have adequate funding. Recommend $50,000 (100%).

7. Upper Kelsey Creek Habitat Restoration Project - Construction Phase (N-469) – Mid- Puget Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group Construct a large wood and bioengineering project in Kelsey Creek to reduce streambank erosion, sedimentation, and improve habitat for Chinook and other salmon species. The project will seek to improve the spawning gravels and streambed for Chinook spawning. KCD funding for the project design was approved in 2009.

Discussion - This reach of Kelsey Creek has excellent tree cover and stream conditions and community involvement in Chinook salmon is very active in this area. Large wood in the v-shaped channel would help to moderate high, flashy flows and improve rearing and refuge habitat. The project was seen as very cost efficient, Chinook salmon in an urban stream, yet Tier II. Recommend $30,000 (100%).

8. Issaquah Creek Protection (I249, I250) – King County This project proposed to purchase ~148 acres from three property owners along Issaquah Creek and Holder and Carey Creeks in the upper reaches of Issaquah Creek. It would purchase development rights with buffer protection and 28 acres as fee simple acquisition.

Discussion – The property that was visited is currently for sale and the proposal is to combine funding with the purchaser and place a conservation easement on the land and transfer development rights. The potential new owner is interested in the 150-foot buffer creek restoration requirement and would like to conduct educational classes. The innovation of the acquisition method provides high benefits for low cost compared to fee simple acquisition. The partnership with a buyer allows the conservation easement recording to occur with the purchase and known agreements on future restoration. The committee would like this property to be indicated as the primary acquisition target and any change in parcels to require an additional site visit for approval. Recommend $250,000 (100%).

9. Bear Creek Protection 2010 (N256, N257, N258) - King County

KCD – WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Report Final 7-13-10 This project seeks to acquire a key parcel for the protection of riparian habitat, floodplain, and habitat forming process areas, and adjacent wetlands. This reach of Bear Creek provides excellent salmonid rearing and spawning habitat and important habitat forming processes.

Discussion – This parcel is within a subdivision of single family residences and is long and narrow with Bear Creek crossing the parcel on the far end from the roadway. The current owner was not interested in subdividing the parcel into two parcels or in a conservation easement. The committee would like to see a similar acquisition strategy as in the Issaquah Protection project to reduce the cost to benefit. Recommend $0 (request of $400,000).

10. Beaux Arts Shoreline Restoration Design Permitting (C288B) - Western Academy of Beaux Arts (WABA) With a 2009 KCD grant the WABA community has hired John Baker Landscape Architects to design a comprehensive shoreline design plan and two to three areas with permit-level designs for the 1100 feet of Lake Washington shoreline to improve benefits for juvenile Chinook. 2010 KCD funds would be for permitting the final restoration site designs.

Discussion – The shoreline is in the Tier I migratory corridor and supports the Green Shoreline effort. They have held three community meetings with 25 or more members attending. The designs are near complete and funding will move this project to the next stage. This project will serve as a demonstration site and model for other communities. It would be beneficial to include project effectiveness monitoring in future grants. Recommend $25,000 (100%).

11. Mapes Creek Mouth Restoration (C271) - Seattle Public Utilities Research in Lake Washington has shown that small deltas and creek mouths are heavily used by Cedar River juvenile Chinook salmon. This project will restore stream mouth habitat in south Lake Washington migration corridor used by Chinook fry. This project will install a dedicated pipe for Mapes Creek in the developed areas and restore 300 feet of stream habitat in the park, including a new stream mouth delta. The Corps has conducted a feasibility study ($678K) and local match to the Corps would be used for the design. The 2010 KCD request of $325K would be combined with a SRFB request of $225K to provide the local funding to complete the design. Additional funds would be needed for construction.

Discussion –The restoration would occur in a southeast Seattle park with the proposed daylighted stream crossing the center of a large grass area with native plants added along the creek. The shoreline is at the center of a cove with marinas on both sides. There were many follow-up questions on this project after the site visit to understand the migration routes of juvenile Chinook around the boat docks to the future creek mouth and their potential use of the proposed daylighted creek. There were also questions about riparian areas along the future creek and whether to route through, or next to, a neighboring wetland for more overhanging vegetation and protection from people crossing through the creek area. As a public park this would be a good demonstration site. However the cost of the project is very high and the committee did not think it would provide an equal benefit. Recommend $0 (request of $325,000).

12. The Boy Scout Property Acquisition (N371) – City of Bothell Public Works Department This project would acquire 5.95 acres along the west slope of North Creek Valley and North Creek watershed. Protection of the steep slopes and mature trees will provide habitat, erosion control, and runoff retardation to prevent flashy hydrology in North Creek.

Discussion – This parcel is heavily forested and slopes steeply toward the freeway below with North Creek on the opposite side of the freeway. Conservation of this parcel and adjoining parcels, are valuable for the forest benefits and should continue to seek funding. For the salmon benefits the committee felt that the hydrological connection to North Creek was indirect and it is a Tier II area. Recommend $0 (request of $225,000). Page 7 KCD – WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Report Final 7-13-10 Table 3. WRIA 8 KCD 2010 Grants – Summary of Public Outreach and Education Recommendations

Ran Total Project Amount of k Program and Applicant Cost Request Matching Funds Salmon Watcher Program 2010-2011 1 - 3 King County - Jennifer Vanderhoof $100,431 $46,573 $53,858

2011 Cedar River Salmon Journey Friends of the Cedar River Watershed - Sue Rooney 1 - 3 $95,535 $27,800 $67,735 Beach Naturalist Program 2011 (WRIA 8) Seattle Aquarium Society - Kathy Sider and 1 - 3 Janice Mathisen $88,600 $12,600 $76,000 Lake Washington Cedar Sammamish Forest Stewardship (C721 with C719/C731 and C720, I715, N719, N735) Washington State University- 4 Dan Nordquist and Kevin Zobrist $25,074 $18,283 $6,791 WRIA 8 Rain Garden Training and Installation Project 5 Stewardship Partners - David Burger $55,000 $50,000 $5,000

Total Studies, Outreach Request $364,640 $155,256 $209,384 WRIA 8 SRC Allocation for Studies, Public Outreach and Education (8%) $94,000

Shortfall and amount over target allocation ($61,256)

KCD – WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Report Final 7-13-10 Public Outreach and Education - Descriptions and Highlights of Discussion Note: paragraph number equals project rank

1 – 3. Salmon Watcher Program 2010-2011- King County The Salmon Watcher Program continues for its 14th year to provide over 1200 hours of volunteer time and over 6,000 citizen contacts. The program educates and trains watershed residents in salmon life history and identification. Volunteers record salmonid presence information semiweekly at stream sites throughout Lake Washington watershed and the nearshore.

1 – 3. 2011 Cedar River Salmon Journey – Friends of the Cedar River Watershed Since 1998, the Cedar River Salmon Journey (CRSJ) has served over 40,000 people during the annual salmon migration between the Locks and Landsburg Dam when it successfully educates the public about salmon protection in the Cedar River basin. The CRSJ recruits 55-60 volunteers and trains them for eight key days of public education. Volunteers are at the Locks in July/August and along the Cedar River in October/November. They educate over 5,000 people annually.

1 – 3. Beach Naturalist Program 2010 (WRIA 8 – Seattle Aquarium Society The Beach Naturalist Program combines three powerful tools for effecting change: person-to- person communication; hands-on learning; and engaging conservation information. In response to Project Subcommittee comments, the program developed a new button for salmon to prompt questions about salmon and a new educational “Salmon – an educator’s guide” for the nearshore environment. The trained Beach Naturalists include recording of salmon conservations with public.

Discussion – The above three programs were strongly supported by the committee and were ranked equally. Each program trains volunteers to communicate the salmon story to large audiences in different areas of the watershed. The Salmon Watcher program costs were higher this year due to development of a new database. These additional costs were questioned and found necessary to address program functions. Recommend: $43,573, $27,800, and $12,600, respectively for the above programs (all 100%).

4. Lake Washington Cedar Sammamish Forest Stewardship – Washington State University Small acreage forest landowners are key to salmon recovery because they are primarily motivated by non-market values, such as conserving habitat and ecosystem health. They help prevent land conversion to development. This program educated landowners on forest stewardship and provides coached planning.

Discussion – Initially the committee did not think there were many small farm foresters within WRIA 8. Follow-up questions revealed that there are 9,000 small farm foresters in WRIA 8 with land averaging 4 acres. Within this group there are 1600 owners having larger tracks of 10 acres or more covered in forest. Three King County sponsors provided funding from their requests to have this program reach a new audience. Recommend $16,000 (87%).

5. WRIA 8 Rain Garden Training and Installation Project – Stewardship Partners The Rain Garden program promotes the building of rain gardens as an effective means to treat polluted storm water throughout WRIA 8. They received a 2009 KCD grant to train rain garden installers and develop rain garden-based curriculum materials and provide trainings for the general public. The 2010 KCD request focuses on an industrial site demonstration rain garden within WRIA 8, additional educational materials and rain garden trainings.

Discussion – Several committee members have attended Rain Garden classes and found them well taught and useful. The current application contained new activities in industrial areas that seemed more appropriately funded through NPDDES permitting work. They would like to see an application next year to continue the Rain Garden classes. Recommend $0 (request of $50,000).

KCD – WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Report Final 7-13-10 Monitoring - Descriptions and Highlights of Discussion

Table 4. WRIA 8 KCD 2010 Grants – Monitoring Recommendations Project Subcommitte Amount e Total of Matching Recommend Proposal Name, (Plan #) Project Cost Request Funds ations 2011 Chinook Spawning Ground Surveys and Outmigrant Trapping King County - Hans Berge 461,034 $316,335 $144,699 $313,335 Monitoring Totals $461,034 $316,335 144,699 $313,335 WRIA 8 SRC Allocation for Monitoring (~25%) and amount over (-$20,307) target and percent of total KCD funds $293,028 (27%)

 2011 Chinook Spawning Ground Surveys and Outmigrant Trapping Chinook Spawning Ground Surveys - This project is to expand knowledge of the reproductive life history, geographic and temporal distributions, spawning abundance and hatchery stray rates for Chinook salmon in WRIA 8. Weekly float surveys of the Cedar River from Landsburg dam to the mouth at Renton (redd site location, spawn timing, redd dimensions, and redd superimposition by sockeye salmon). Weekly spawning and carcass surveys of Bear, Cottage Lake, Evans, North, Little Bear, May, Kelsey, Goff, and Issaquah and the East fork of Issaquah Creeks (mid-Sept. to mid- November).

 2011 Outmigrant Trapping in Bear Creek and the Cedar River - One of the fundamental needs for salmon conservation is to assess the number of juvenile salmon that are produced in the rivers and streams to evaluate the status of salmon populations and evaluate the overall effect of conservation actions. Due to the high natural variability of salmon populations, multiple years of data are necessary to detect changes in population status with confidence. Juvenile outmigrant trapping will be on the Cedar River and Bear Creek and augmented with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags to evaluate the timing of outmigrants and estimate juvenile mortality between spawning grounds and the Locks.

Discussion - The two monitoring studies are a non-competitive category with a target allocation of 25 percent of the total KCD funds. This year costs are about two percent higher, with a 27% request. Although these cost increases were anticipated last year, WDFW did not include some on-going items for the program in their budget and SPU, who hoped to increase funding this year, remained at their current level, which is a match to the program for their HCP requirement. Are there elements of the studies that could be reduced without compromising the continuity in the data? The pit tagging report was one item identified (~$10,000) that could be skipped this year (the data would be collected but not written into a report), however the report is currently

KCD – WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Report Final 7-13-10 on a two year cycle and to skip this year would not provide the Corps with the data needed for the smolt slides. Beyond this reduction the next step would be to reduce the stream surveys by either reducing steams or number of sites on a stream. This was not favored by the committee as it would result in a break of the data set. The committee noted that they wanted to maintain a robust monitoring program but at the same time address the issue of increasing costs in a time period of continued demands on the limited funds. This issue will need further discussion during the Salmon Recovery Council’s meeting for 2011 target KCD fund allocations. Recommend: $313,335 (100%).

Conclusion Overall the Project Subcommittee was satisfied with their funding recommendations given a difficult funding year with a $1 million shortfall. The WRIA 8 Plan provides the guidance of Tiers and priority areas for these recommendations. Funding recommendations seek completing projects or phases of projects, and to sustain valuable on-going programs. Cost-benefit was a key consideration in the recommendations and with uncertainty of funding sources in out-years, it is anticipated that this will continue. The Project Subcommittee will continue to work in the next year on revising the criteria to align with the Plan’s implementation phase. Project phases (feasibility/design, permitting, and construction) and project type, acquisition, restoration, or public outreach, need to be addressed individually in the screening criteria. Benefit to Chinook is the emphasis in the criteria and will remain as central.

KCD – WRIA 8 Project Subcommittee Report Final 7-13-10