Surface Water Management Division
Quilceda/Allen Watershed
2007 AQWA Team Accomplishments
Last updated February, 2008
Snohomish County Surface Water Management (SWM)
• SWM educators visited 5 Liberty Elementary School classrooms once in
January and once in April. Liberty Elementary was participating in the
“Restoration Ecology for Young Stewards,” a project led by the Stilly
Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force (Task Force) with SWM
providing match. SWM also helped on 5 planting field trips (see Task Force below).
• In August, 3 Project WET and Aquatic Wild Teacher Workshops put on by SWM were attended by 14 Marysville School District 5th grade teachers; another workshop was held in November for 18 Marysville School District 5th grade teachers.
• SWM Salmon Watching was conducted on Hayho, Middle Fork Quilceda, and Edgecomb creeks to count the salmon as they move upstream to spawn.
• The Middle Fork Quilceda riparian restoration project was completed last winter when the final volunteer planting was conducted in March. Because of a harsh winter, dry summer, and vandalism, an additional 1000 plants were put in the ground in October when the girl scouts came back to volunteer again.
• Staff of SWM’s DRI group replaced gravel paving strips along 99th Street in the Rolling Green plat with grass pavers. The subsoil was replaced with permeable gravel. This construction was done to create detention and infiltration of stormwater to address a drainage problem.
• Water quality staff responded to 9 complaints within the watershed consisting of problems related to manure, process waste water, paint, ground water, solid waste, foam, construction erosion and petroleum.
• Pursuant to National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements, the Snohomish County water quality illicit discharge detection and elimination program (IDDE) protects water quality in the County by investigating, detecting and removing illicit discharges and connections from County drainage systems and waters of the state. The IDDE program samples discharges to County drainage systems during dry weather to detect illicit discharges. Samples are gathered at flowing County owned and operated outfalls for parameters which determine the most likely source of the pollution. Outfalls exhibiting a signature of pollutants lead to upstream investigations to identify and remove the likely source of pollutants. One location in Allen Creek and 10 locations in Quilceda Creek were screened under the IDDE program in 2007.
Adopt A Stream Foundation
• Provided all West Fork Quilceda streamside landowners with information on how their activities at home can affect clean water.
• Joined 45 streamside landowners in finding solutions to healthy streams in their own back yards by providing visual surveys and suggesting ways to contribute to making streams healthier and cleaner. Provided planting plans and maps to these landowners for creating vegetated buffers and restoring the channel to more natural conditions. Also provided plans for chemical-free yard maintenance.
• Worked with A/QWA Team members to identify sources of animal waste in the watershed.
• Began water quality sampling in West Fork Quilceda by setting up 5 sampling stations. Sampling efforts will continue through spring 2009.
City of Arlington
• Prepared a monitoring quality assurance plan and developed BMP tracking methodology to meet NPDES reporting requirements
• Continued development of a Stormwater Comprehensive Plan, including
improving our stormwater infrastructure inventory with elevation surveys
• Modeled stormwater infrastructure along 67th Avenue to identify problems that could influence Edgecomb Creek, a tributary of MF Quilceda Creek
• Hosted Snohomish County SWM Salmon Watcher training for the Arlington area
• Participated in Salmon Watcher program by monitoring 2 stations on
Edgecomb Creek within the City
• Participated in design review and permitting support for the Centennial Trail near Olaf Straad Creek, a tributary to MF Quilceda Creek
City of Marysville
• Coordinated monitoring efforts with neighboring jurisdictions and continued to perform monitoring in the Allen/Quilceda Watershed
• Worked cooperatively with the A/QWA Team, School District, and Task Force to continue to enhance the Jones Creek Environmental Learning Site
• Continued to support the Tulalip Tribe on their Qwuloolt Restoration Project
• Began to coordinate the implementation of the NPDES Phase II Permit
• Started to develop an updated Surface Water Comprehensive Plan/Capital Improvement Project Plan
• Developed a new Low Impact Development ordinance in May 2007
• Purchased Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination equipment
• Participated in restoration planting at Jennings Nature Park along Allen Creek
Snohomish Conservation District (SCD)
• Conducted 5 new site visits.
• Completed 3 farm plans (10 acres)
• Updated 1 farm plan (227 acres)
• Set aside 2 acres for prescribed grazing
• Constructed 1 waste storage facility/dry stack slab
• Excluded animals from 3 acres
• Placed 1000’ of fencing along a creek
• Protected 2 acres of a heavy use area.
• Worked with A/QWA Team, school district and task force on issues.
Stilly-Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force (Task Force)
• 18 classroom lessons on salmon, watersheds and ecosystems were conducted by the Task Force to 8 classrooms (200 students) at Tulalip Elementary, Liberty Elementary, Allen Creek Elementary and Tulalip Heritage School.
• 150 students from Liberty Elementary and Allen Creek Schools were taught water quality and native plant ID on field trips to either Jones Creek or Allen Creek.
• Coordinated restoration efforts within the watershed:
* 100 native trees and shrubs were planted at Marysville School District’s Jones Creek Outdoor Learning Area, by 25 students from Allen Creek Elementary.
* 500 native trees and shrubs were planted at Jennings Nature Park, along Allen Creek, by 175 students from Liberty Elementary, Tulalip Elementary and Tulalip Heritage School.
* Hosted a volunteer tree planting event at Jennings Nature Park, along Allen Creek, where 104 volunteers helped to plant over 1,000 native trees and shrubs on 2/24/07.
* Helped to organize, and participated in, the Earth Walk Adventure on 4/21/07, where the Task Force hosted three booths providing information and activities on tree-planting, native and invasive plants, salmon and water quality.
* Worked with A/QWA team partners and Boy Scouts of America to coordinate the construction of a rain-shelter at Marysville School District’s Jones Creek Outdoor Learning Area.
The Tulalip Tribes
• Tulalip Tribes maintained adaptive water quality monitoring efforts in the Quilceda Watershed, including additional monitoring locations established last year in the West Fork Quilceda.
• Tulalip Tribes continued to work cooperatively with members of the AQWA Team in their efforts to improve water quality and watershed conditions in the West Fork Quilceda through on-going outreach with watershed residents and through on the ground monitoring of watershed conditions and water quality.
• Tulalip Tribes began the first phase of a multi-year stream enhancement
project on Coho Creek, a tributary of Quilceda Creek realigning 800 feet of ditched stream channel to a more natural meander and large wood was placed in the stream to enhance complexity. Riparian native plantings are scheduled for installation over the winter.
• As part of the Qwuloolt Restoration Project, more than one mile of stream channel in lower Allen and Jones Creeks was restored to its historic location and natural alignment. The tidal restoration phase of the Qwuloolt Project is under design and scheduled for completion by 2010.
Summary of Ongoing Water Quality Monitoring
• Snohomish County – Long term monitoring at three sites.
• Tulalip Tribes and Adopt A Stream Foundation - monitoring in the West Fork Quilceda.
• Arlington - monitoring at 3 stations in the Middle Fork Quilceda subbasin as required under the NPDES Phase II permit
A/QWA Team Earth Walk Project
A/QWA Team members from Snohomish County SWM, City of Marysville,
SCD, Task Force, Jay Group, and The Tulalip Tribes organized the first annual Earth Walk at Jennings Park and at the Marysville Waterfront Park/estuary.
Booths along the walks at both venues were sponsored by the following organizations: REI, WSU Beach Watchers, Pilchuck Audubon, Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation, and People for Puget Sound, as well as A/QWA Team members SCD, Task Force, Jay Group, Tulalip Tribes and Washington Department of Ecology.
Special events included bird watching led by Pilchuck Audubon, tours of the Marysville Wastewater Treatment Plant by their staff and a Task Force planting.
Cara Ianni of the Task Force was the major organizer of the event. Approximately 200 people attended.