Fall/Winter Update

After submitting the Finn Hill Surface Water Management Project (SWAMP) report to Kirkland in June 2012, I was invited to meet with Kirkland Public Works to review our requests and to develop a list of projects and maintenance activities that would improve surface water management in our neighborhood.

I met with Jenny Gaus and Seppo Tervo to discuss the variety of maintenance, repair, education, monitoring, and capital improvement projects reported by residents across Finn Hill.  At the time of our meeting, many of the maintenance and repair activities we had recommended were either underway or already complete.  Kirkland Public Works did not waste any time before getting to work in our neighborhood!

OO Denny StreamExamples of repairs or improvements to surface water management in the Finn Hill neighborhood since June 2012:

  • Rogue runoff under the roadway at the 9600 block of 141st Place on the east side of Finn Hill required that the street be peeled back to repair the stormwater conveyance under the street.  Water had been seeping up through the asphalt and, because of the steep grade of the hill, any time there were freezing temperatures, a dangerous icy spot formed in the street.  The underground conveyance was repaired in Aug-2012 and residents are happy with the result.

Several culvert inlets have been repaired or modified, and a low spot in a sidewalk that was flooding has been modified.

 

  • Stormwater catchments across Finn Hill are being systematically inspected, cleaned, and repaired.  New signs are being installed to mark the ponds as community assets.
  • Seppo – the Public Works water quality specialist and field engineer – has met on site with homeowners across the neighborhood to look at specific areas of concern and to make recommendations that individuals can implement on their properties to remedy surface water problems.
  • As part of a new residential construction project, the contractor repaired roadside drainage at the 11100 block of Champagne Point Road, enabling Kirkland to reroute drainage as requested by a neighbor who had been negatively affected by stormwater runoff across part of their property.  The work is not yet complete, but resources from Kirkland Public Works and Planning departments have followed through to ensure that this issue will end with a positive result.
  • The new fieldturf lacrosse/soccer field at Big Finn Hill Park has a state-of-the-art water filtration system that treats runoff from the field before it flows to the storage pond and Denny Creek.
  • A capital improvement project at 91st Place NE on the east side of Goat Hill improved drainage that had been flooding several residences over a period of many years.  Additional drainage modifications may be necessary on some private property.  Kirkland will provide guidance and assist with design of additional surface water modifications.
  • Faith Pardue Debolt coordinated a project with Betsy Adams from Kirkland Public Works and Rain Dog Designs to install 8 rain gardens along NE 138th Street in September 2012.  Rain gardens are small areas with amended soil, planted with native plants and hardy cultivars, and covered with a finishing mulch.  Rain gardens gather and filter rain water from roof downspouts and hard surfaces that would otherwise pollute creeks, lakes and, ultimately, Puget Sound.
  • Public Works has added several hot spots to their “watch” list.  Hot spots are visited during significant rainfall events to clear debris from culvert inlets that might cause residential flooding.
  • Seppo is investigating multiple issues along NE 135th Place in the Highlands subdivision, consulting with the homeowners’ association there to provide recommendations.

Next Steps

As part of ongoing efforts to manage surface water, improve wildlife habitat, and improve water quality in the Denny Creek watershed and surrounding areas, we will be addressing several key areas during 2013:

  • Investigate feasability of daylighting Denny Creek under Juanita Drive, including a pedestrian/bike/wildlife underpass.
  • Investigate feasability of buiding a pedestrian/bike bridge over a fork of Denny Creek just below the beaver ponds in Big Finn Hill Park.
  • Leverage Kirkland resources to conduct GIS research that will provide sub-basin analysis for tributaries of Denny Creek.  The objective of this work will be to identify sub-basins that have combinations of large geographic area, significant topographic relief, and largest proportions of impermeable surface.  Follow-on work will involve mitigation of surface water in targeted areas.
  • Identify and address additional surface water problems in residential areas and open space.
  • Advocate and encourage low impact development.
  • Continue installing rain gardens across the neighborhood.
  • Decide what to do with the concrete bulkhead along the lakeshore at the north end of OO Denny Park.
  • Decide what to do with the old wooden water tank at the bottom of The Highlands at Holmes Point.

Words of Encouragement

Earl Nightingale said that “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal.”

OO Denny Fish LadderThe progress we have made in partnership with Kirkland Public Works, Kirkland Planning, Rain Dog Designs, and residents across the Finn Hill neighborhood represents a measure of success, but it is only a start.

Please do your part to encourage Finn Hill residents to manage the surface water on their properties.  To the extent that we can return surface water to the ground, managing it so that it percolates into the soil rather than running across the ground or flowing into underground conveyances, we will improve water quality in Denny Creek, in Lake Washington, and we will be doing our part to slow the decline of water quality in the Puget Sound Basin.  There is much more we can do, and water quality certainly is a worthy goal.