Salmon Friendly Yards: Bear Creek & Soos Creek Watersheds
Are you interested in finding out whether your home is eligible for a free Green Stormwater Infrastructure project? Mid Sound Fisheries is happy to offer FREE projects to residents within the Bear Creek Basin and Soos Creek Watershed. Schedule a site assessment and consultation using the form below, and let us help you create a beautiful rain garden, or manage your stormwater effectively for free! For residents in the Bear Creek Basin, we are also offering free knotweed treatment.
Funding for this program has been provided by King County Wastewater Treatment Division and by the King County Flood Control District in partnership with WRIA8. Our wonderful sponsors have eliminated the need for cost-sharing, allowing us to provide you with a free program to help treat stormwater in your neighborhood.
Register for a Free Site Assessment
Bear Creek & Soos Creek Residential Projects
Rain Garden & Cistern Installation
Reduce stagnant water and improve drainage with low-maintenance cisterns and drought tolerant gardens! Stormwater runoff from roofs and driveways can cause unwanted standing water in your yard – but did you know it can also send contaminants like tire dust, gasoline, and bacteria into our waterways if not treated properly? This has been shown to have a significant impact on juvenile and adult salmon mortality. The good news is that simple filtration through plant uptake and soil percolation can remove many of these toxins before they can flow into our rivers and streams!
Rain gardens allow you to direct the runoff from your roof into a beautiful native plant garden, which will filter the runoff and allow it to slowly reenter the groundwater. Cisterns allow you to collect runoff in tanks for you to use to water your yard, slowly filtering the water through the ground during the dry season, and helping you save on your water bill over the summer!
Stream Restoration
Salmon need a complex habitat to survive. See if your streamside yard is in need of big improvements! This can include fish barrier removal, installation of habitat-creating structures, stream bank re-grading, riprap removal, and more. These in-stream projects have long-term positive impact on salmon survival by increasing areas for juvenile salmon to hide from predators, cooling and aerating the water to increase dissolved oxygen, and creating resting places for spawning salmon on their long journey home.
Native Habitat Planting
These water-saving plants help stabilize banks, control erosion, and increase biodiversity. And they’re pretty! If you live on a creek, planting the riparian zone is a fantastic, easy way to make a positive difference for salmon and beautify your creekside yard in the process – and Mid Sound can help you every step of the way. Register for a site visit to learn how to improve the riparian zone in your yard!
Bear Creek Knotweed Treatment
Knotweed Treatment
Invasive knotweed spreads rapidly and takes over yards, sometimes even growing into the foundation of houses! If you see this pesky plant in your yard (identifiable by its hollow, segmented stems and heart-shaped leaves), please DON’T CUT IT! While it’s tempting to try and weed-whack these plants away, this only encourages them to grow back stronger, and the debris from the plant can sprout new roots and start new knotweed stands wherever you leave it.
The best, most reliable way to permanently get rid of knotweed is to have a professional treat it annually and reintroduce native plants to keep other weeds from sprouting in its place. Mid Sound is offering FREE knotweed treatment annually in the Bear Creek basin to try and stop the spread of this noxious weed downstream.
Salmon-Friendly Projects
Resources
Curious about why rain gardens and cisterns are helpful in creating a healthy watershed? Scroll through our StoryMap to learn more.
The Rain Garden Handbook for Western Washington is the definitive guide to building a rain garden in Western Washington. Whether you have a lingering question or want plant recommendations for your new garden, this is the resource for you!
One of the first steps in assessing your yard for a rain garden is determining the drainage rate of your soil. Follow the steps in this guide to test the water infiltration rate of your soil. This information can also be located on page 17 in the Rain Garden Handbook.
Ready to explore which plants you’d like to include in a future rain garden? Browse Mid Sound’s Native Plant Guide for PNW Rain Gardens.
In this booklet created by King County Department of Natural Resources, learn about stormwater runoff pollution, why is it a problem, and how to reduce it.
The Water Quality Benefits Evaluation (WQBE) Toolkit created by King County provides information and data for water quality managers and policy advisors to help them to understand which projects and programs are most effective at reducing pollution.
Connect with Us
FAQs
For all projects, use the “Site Visit Request Form” linked above or visit the registration site here.
After a site assessment, residents will be informed of qualification within 2 – 3 weeks. During the site visit Mid Sound staff will help identify possible projects on your property. We will then follow up within two weeks of the site visit with more information about what this project could look like, and to hear feedback from you about what you’d like to see in your yard.
All of Mid Sound’s habitat restoration projects and water quality improvement projects are fully funded by generous grants from the King County Flood Control District, the King County Waterworks Program, Washington State Department of Ecology, and the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office, allowing us to provide these projects completely free of charge to property owners. Property owners are welcome to make a financial contribution to the project or donation to Mid Sound, however that is never a requirement or expectation.
* Through our funding partners we are able to offset the cost of rain gardens under 150-square-feet, and cisterns 835-gallons or less. If you would like to opt for a larger project we are able to cover the cost up to our square footage and gallon allotment. The difference will be covered by the homeowner.
At this time we’re only able to offer assistance to residents within the Bear Creek and Soos Creek Watersheds. However, there are other programs in King County that can assist you. Check out 12,000 Rain Gardens: Rain Garden Incentive Programs for Puget Sound Homeowners | King County RainScapes | Stewardship Partners: Rain Changers | Seattle Public Utilities: RainWise
Learn more about the importance of Green Stormwater Infrastructure.
Check out Mid Sound’s Native Plant Guide for Rain Gardens to learn more.
Contact
AMANI MOYER-ALI | Bear Creek Basin Project Manager | Email Amani
ERIK RIGAUX | Soos Creek Watershed Project Manager | Email Erik
Thank you to our generous funders for supporting “Salmon Friendly: Bear Creek Basin.”
Funding for GSI & Native Planting projects is provided by King County Wastewater Treatment Division.
Funding for Knotweed Treatment is provided by the King County Flood Control District in partnership with the WRIA 8.