These are important words this year. If you love to ski, you know there is hardly enough snow in the mountains this season. If you drive over the pass frequently, you probably haven’t been stuck in snow. If you live on Clover Creek, you know it was a dry ditch from May to December. For…
Tag: environment
Restoring WRIA 12: A Unified Path Forward for Pierce County’s Watershed
Submitted By the Clover Creek Restoration Alliance Pierce County’s lakes, wetlands, and aquifers quietly hold our communities together. They supply our drinking water, support wildlife, buffer floods, and sustain the landscapes that define our region. Because these systems often operate out of sight, it is easy to overlook how essential they are until the signs…
Boeing Frederickson 2025 contamination periodic report
Adapted from the Department of Ecology Reports. Link to current Periodic Review for the Frederickson Industrial Park, May 22, 2025. Data here is excerpted from Department of Ecology report. You can find them in their entirety at the DOE web links.I have the supplemental EIS for the site but am still trying to locate the…
News: A salmon was spotted near the small dam in Chambers Creek. This is since the recent allowance of 532 Chinook salmon over the Dam at Chamber Bay. Conversations are occurring online between the members of Pierce County Surface Water Management (PCSWM), the Chambers Clover Watershed Council (CCWC), and the Clover Creek Restoration Alliance (CCRA)…
Condition of Spanaway Lake
UPDATED: Corrections to current data.) These pictures are the condition of Spanaway Lake four weeks after the second EutroSORB G application this year to prevent Spanaway Lake’s annually recurring harmful cyanobacteria blooms, September 9, 2025. The Health Department closed the lake on August 20, 2024. https://tpchd.org/news/spanaway-lake-closed-because-of-toxic-algae/ In 2025, the lake has only been under an advisory. https://tpchd.org/environment/surface-water/advisories/…
Why is the cost of environmental justice so high?
by Kirk Kirkland and Claudia Finseth Two neighborhood groups in unincorporated Pierce County have recently paid very high prices to attempt to protect their communities because the county is not doing it. Both were to try to stop two different kinds of large projects from dramatically changing their valued open space. Both proposed projects were…
Jan 29 – Your Septic System
Oversight of the operation and maintenance of your septic system is one of the tasks the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) performs. On January 29, 2025 at Sprinker Recreation Center there will be an open house for homeowners regrading septic systems. Because of the proximity to lakes, creeks, and waterways, Parkland and Spanaway may…
Our Watershed, “WRIA 12” January 15
It is called a Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) by the Department of Ecology. The Chambers Clover Watershed includes Parkland, Spanaway, Midland, Collins, Frederickson, part of South Hill and NW Graham as well as Lakewood, McChord Field, Fircrest, Steilacoom, Dupont, and University Place, Below is a map of the WRIA’s in Washington State. Look for 12….
Restoring the people’s faith in Pierce County government: What I would like our new government to know.
by Claudia Riiff Finseth Pierce County will have a new government this month. What will the next four years be like? Will they be more of the same as the last eight years? I have great hope that they will be different. Different, first and foremost, in restoring a healthy county democracy. This can be done…
Spanaway Lake, now it’s the beavers
Over the past several years Spanaway Lake has been having issues. For us swimming as children, it was the “duck itch” caused by a parasite getting under our skin if we didn’t dry off well with a towel after swimming. Over time, the swimming beaches became less popular, the diving docks were removed, and the…
Recounting eight years of Dammeier
By Marianne Lincoln Each new Pierce County Executive brings changes to the County. Although we have a County Charter, the Executive is the chief department head approving job and volunteer appointments and legislation from the Council. Thus, that person has a significant influence on who holds a job almost anywhere in County Government offices. Leadership…
Watching a dry creek getting some rain
By Marianne Lincoln On November 29, 2024, I took a drive out to a few locations on Clover Creek to see where there was water and where it ended. I started near Canyon Road and ended near Pacific Avenue. The water in the South Fork disappeared just after Golden Given, where there are a number…
WDF&W receives $1,499,300 grant for oak habitat, prescribed burning and other salmon enhancement on base
As part of a package of $18.5 million for conservation grants, JBLM will receive almost $1.5 million for expanding partnerships, landowner outreach, plant production, and prescribed burning. There are 13 sites and 829 acres where oak habitat and ecosystem enhancements will take place. Here is the portion of the press release noting the local project….
Cantwell & Murray Announce $18.5M For Fish & Wildlife Conservation Projects
Lummi, Skokomish, Colville & Lower Elwha Klallam Tribes — as well WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife and Chelan County – receive federal funding Grants will help restore salmon & wildlife habitat; improve health, biodiversity of WA public lands WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs…
When the faucet is dry…
By Marianne Lincoln Where did the water go? That is a question a lot of us have been asking for years. It is the end of November. Clover Creek is still dry in From Brookdale Golf Course to Midland and Spanaway Loop Road. The Chambers Clover Creek Watershed is based on a Sole Source Aquifer….
Puyallup Watershed Symposium, Dec 5
The Puyallup River Watershed Council is presenting the Puyallup Watershed Symposium on December 5, 2024, from 1:00 – 6:00 pm at the Pioneer Park Pavilion (330 S Meridian, Puyallup, WA 98317). The presenters’ abstracts can be accessed using the QR code on the poster or using this link. To register, you can do so by…
Public hearing on housing rules Monday, Jan. 6
Draft rules for housing, urban growth areas and rural planning The Department of Commerce has filed draft rules (CR-102) to update Washington’s Administrative Codes (WAC) that seek to incorporate 24 housing-related bills passed into law between 2019 and 2024. These bills relate to housing, urban growth areas and rural planning, and the draft rules will support how local governments…
Nov 4 Council Committee Comp Plan Hearing
TACOMA – The Council’s Community Development and Environment Committee (CDEC) will hold its first public hearing on the 2024 proposed Comprehensive Plan update on Monday, Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m. in the Pierce County Council Chambers. What: Public Hearing on the Proposed Comprehensive Plan UpdateWhen: Monday, Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m.Where: Pierce County Council Chambers, 930 Tacoma…
Thirsty? Count on it.
By Cindy Beckett The below is a link to a bona fide report, and I’m sure even if they won’t admit it, both councils and executives have heard me warn of this over and over again, year after year. No one would listen, no one would believe me. Now, here we are, and it does not make…
Copper Way Ribbon Cutting – Spanaway
The Copper Way Apartments consist of 256 affordable housing units PIERCE COUNTY — On July 13, 2023, elected officials, housing and service providers, and community members broke ground on the Copper Way multifamily affordable housing community in Spanaway, marking the start of the first affordable housing project to receive funding from Pierce County’s affordable housing…