Evans Creek is a Class One salmon bearing stream but is impacted by adjacent industrial development with untreated run-off and untreed, paved buffers less than 50 feet wide in some places. Class One stream buffers are supposed to be 200 feet wide but 50 foot buffers have been grandfathered in SE Industrial Redmond. Evans Creek Relocation is listed as a priority in the WRIA 8 Chinook Conservation Plan owing to the wealth of habitat in the upper reaches of Evans Creek. With the relocation Chinook and Coho will be able to swim from the confluence of Bear-Evans Creeks to the upper reaches of the watershed.
Redevelopment of some aspects of SE Redmond Industrial will be more economically feasible with removal of the stream and buffer from it's present location. In addition, passive recreation along the Bear-Evans Creek trail to Perrigo Park will be enhanced since the new channel will share the same open space with the trail.
Total cost for the relocation is $7.6 Million and is funded by City of Redmond Capital Improvement Projects fund. The preliminary design will be completed before 2014; the first phase of construction is planned to start by summer, 2015.
Reported By Bob Yoder
http://www.redmond-reporter.com/news/310120741.html# this link provides a more complete picture of the actions of the City of Redmond's efforts to relocate Evans Creek onto private property (or open space as is inferred in the article).
ReplyDeletehttp://www.redmond-reporter.com/news/310120741.html# this link provides a more comprehensive overview of the City of Redmond relocating Evans Creek, as a private property owner is being negatively affected in multiple ways. In our neighborhoods we strive to be custodial to nature and its habitats, but this is a far removed impetus for the project. I would ask local residents to do their homework to truly understand this project and how it could one day affect other property owners.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.redmond-reporter.com/news/310120741.html# This is a link that will enlighten other private property owners to the comprehensive story of the relocation of Evans Creek.
ReplyDeleteHi Cherie,
ReplyDeleteCan you tell me -- or write a letter - explaining the present state of affairs between the oppressed property owner and the city?
Does the city have the go-ahead for relocation or is it still in court? When is it expected to be relocated?
I thought their would be trails through the riparian/wetlands so the public could use the land.
Any news or report you can give me would help me to write a story. Better yet, submit a letter and I'll publish it.