The Department of Enterprise Services (DES) presented to the Tumwater City Council on Tuesday, Sept. 24, a draft interlocal agreement for the Deschutes Estuary restoration project.
Under the project, the Fifth Avenue Dam will be removed, and the Fifth Avenue Bridge will be reconstructed to restore the Capitol Lake into an estuary.
Project consultant Tessa Gardner-Brown told the council that once the project has been finished, the restored estuary will extend two miles from Tumwater Falls to the Fifth Avenue Bridge. The consultant added that the project will allow freer access to salmon runs and provide access to recreation.
The proposed interlocal agreement establishes the responsibilities of the different project partners.
For Tumwater’s part, the city will contribute funding towards maintenance dredging activities on Budd Inlet once the Fifth Avenue Dam has been removed. The removal of the dam will cause more sediment to flow into Budd Inlet.
Tumwater would have to contribute around 12% of the dredging costs which is projected to total $7,673,000 by the end of the interlocal agreement in 2050.
Other entities involved in the project are Olympia, Thurston County, Squaxin Island Tribe, and LOTT Clean Water Alliance.
Project consultant Sarah Reich noted that the county has agreed to manage the funds that each of the local entities will be contributing.
Asked by Councilmember Michael Althauser about the protection provided to those funds, Reich said that funds from the state will be separated to protect the local fund in case the legislature reallocates the money.
The proposed agreement also determines what properties will be transferred to some of the partners after the project’s completion.
According to the agreement, the city will own the planned boardwalks on the south basin of Capitol Lake once the dam has been removed.
Preliminary designs, specifically the 15% design, of the boardwalks have already been produced, according to Gardner-Brown, so Althauser inquired whether community outreach has already been done to ask the public about the proposed boardwalks.
Ann Larson from DES, who is also the project director, said that public engagement went into the 15% design documents and added that they will continue to engage the community in the next stages of the design process.
“We've only had one public meeting so far, and I think it was really successful, but we've established a community sounding board with folks from around,” Larson said.
“We don't have full funding yet, so funding is also a consideration. We need to make sure that we're thoughtful about how we use our limited funds until we receive more,” the projected director added.
Another benefit expected from the project is a reduction in flood elevation in Olympia by around one foot.
Althauser inquired about the project’s impact to flooding in the location of the Old Brewhouse Tower, which the city is working to restore.
Gardner-Brown acknowledged that the old brewery is within a mapped floodplain and said that their modelling projects that maximum flooding elevation in the old brewery’s location will be reduced as a result of the project.
“The flood elevations that occur now are higher than the maximum flood elevations that will occur in the future as a result of the project,” the consultant said.
“The trick and the nuance here is that the area will be more susceptible now to the change in tidal elevations so there may be higher water elevations more frequently as a result of high tide events, but the highest level of flooding will be reduced overall,” Gardner-Brown added.
The project also includes the creation of new habitat using material dredged from under Capitol Lake. Althauser asked why this component of the project does not extend beyond I-5 towards the area around Tumwater Historical Park.
Gardner-Brown responded by saying that the habitat around the park is already of good quality.
“It's the type of shoreline habitat that we are intending to develop across the project area so there is no need to enhance the habitat that is already so good in that project area,” Gardner-Brown said.
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AskyFullOfStars
I really appreciate your regular updates on the estuary project and look forward to watching the work in bringing it all to fruition over the next few years!
2 days ago Report this
ChuckCross
WOW!! Surely the cost of this mega project has not been fully explained to the public! Cost projections now run to 2050, with a small footnote that continued dredging of Budd Inlet will be required far into the future. Has anyone seen or heard of the tax impact this project will incur in the future???
Yesterday at 8:51 AM Report this
Duffish
Yes, the costs will be greater in the future, but what is the value of an ecosystem restored? Eventually, I believe, the system will stabilize and sediment may not be as big a problem as we think. Especially if we also mitigate runoff by restoring portions of the Deschutes watershed.
Yesterday at 9:40 AM Report this
Coug66
I remember the pride expressed by citizens of Olympia and Tumwater when the 5th Avenue dam was completed. Now, we had a reflecting pond mirroring the Capitol campus and untold recreational opportunities. But, alas, the legislature chose not to fund planned dredging. Sounds like they can reallocate funds for this project as well, leaving local government on the hook for future dredging.
Yesterday at 10:32 AM Report this
Snevets
Thank you for the article and the photos. I look forward to seeing all the progress!
Yesterday at 10:43 AM Report this