By Marianne Lincoln

Reclaiming fresh water from sewage to save the Chambers Clover Creek aquifer

You wash your laundry, flush your toilet, turn on the dishwasher, take a shower or a bath and all that fresh water goes to the sewer. Just this past year the County worked on a project to expand the size of the sewer pipes from Parkland to Chambers Bay.

Right now, after treatment, that treated, sanitized fresh water is dumped into Puget Sound. While at the same time, our aquifer is no longer high enough to push groundwater up into Clover Creek and the section from Spanaway Loop Road to 22nd Avenue is dry from April to November. That upward push clears the silt and mud, exposing the gravel that is needed for spawning salmon.

For the second year in a row, after 25 years of having no salmon in the creek, the Department of Fish and Wildlife allowed a llitte over 2000 Chinook salmon to pass through the fish ladder at Chambers Dam and enter Chambers Creek.

Last year there was not enough water at the fish ladder to Steilacoom Lake, this year there was. What a surprise for the landowners along Chambers Creek and Ponce de Leon Creek to see large spawning salmon in their back years!

Although some were worried that the smell of rotting fish may be off putting, local wildlife manged to take care of that problem as well. Fox, coyote, eagles, osprey, and heron, maybe even some local dogs took care of the spawned-out carcasses.

Clover Creek at the south end of Steilacoom Lake did not have such a show. There simply wasn’t enough water for the salmon to enter.

For the system to begin to return, there is still much work to do.

Today, at the Surface Water Management Committee meeting, Clark, a consultant from Herrera, presented from a study of the best road drainage systems to consider filtering the outfall before it enters Clover Creek. The project hopes to lower the amount of 6PPDQ that enters the creek. 6PPD-Q is a toxic byproduct of tire wear, is highly lethal to aquatic life, particularly coho salmon, and may pose emerging risks to human health.

So, the consultant was prioritizing the outfalls from the road that could be rerouted into a filtration system.

As discussion continued, the commissioners asked about sub-regional sewage treatment facilities and reinfiltration of treated water through these biofiltration systems to recharge the aquifer. To translate, build a treatment plant in the South Hill or Frederickson area and, like septic tanks do, let the treated water go back into the ground.

Another practice in European cities includes reusing the treated water in homes that are double plumbed. Toilets use the treated, not quite potable water for toilets, and sinks get the potable fresh water from a different pipe.

As the conversation continued about the dry section of Clover Creek, Clark, the Herrera consultant, noted he was currently working on a project for King County that is examining doing this same reintroduction of treated water to area with low flow and dry creeks there. So, there is a study being paid for by King County that may soon serve as a guideline for restoration of the flow to Clover Creek.

Jim Rich, a Commission member, commented about the creek issues and public comment was also taken from Kirk Kirkland (Environmental Coalition) and by Al Schmauder, a founder of the Clover Creek Restoration Alliance (CCRA) and member of the Clover Chambers Creek Watershed Council (CCWC).

As a member of the CCWC and CCRA myself, I decided not to comment, but to take notes and write up the content of this meeting for the public to see. The public should know there are good people out there that care avout the watershed and the reaches that have low flows that prevent the return of salmon during spawning season. People are also noticing through the past four years of this drought, many trees in the vicinity of the creek =s have been dying.

There is hope for the Chambers Clover Creek Watershed. We saw salmon returning the past two years, When the dam at Chambers Bay is removed and the road bridge replaces, there will be more. We need to be sure that there is some fresh water in those creeks with gravel, not mud, for spawning. We need to get the PFAS and 6PPDQ out and be sure it is hospitable for the alevin, fry, parr, and smolt stages to survive and return to the sea.

Tomorrow, at the County Council, members of CCRA will speak and ask the Council to work together with a coalitionf from the watershed councils, the creek advocates, the tribles, the surface water maangement and sewer treatment people and recreate a system that is healthy for all of us. Lucky for us, King County is paying for the study that we might be able to use going forward.

For anyone that doesn’tknow, you will hear the term, “Purple pipe.” That is how the reclaimed water is transported to tell it apart from fresh, potable water. Our next visitations will be the state legislature.

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