Small pond at Echo Lake Park is unintended
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
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| Small pond at Echo Lake Park Photo by J. Polit |
Echo Lake Park is still under construction with the protective fence still up.
The recently planted grass at Echo Lake park is growing as planned. What did grow unplanned is a pond in the lowest portion of the seeded area near the playground and restroom.
Park staff are working to determine the cause of the unexpected “ponding”. The area where the pond is located was re-graded during construction and is 18” higher than the lowest part of the park in the location previously.
In addition, a drywell was created in that vicinity to give any water that might pond a place to infiltrate.
Dick Deal, Parks Director said "You can imagine our surprise after the rains last week to see standing water where there was none in this area of the park prior to construction."
Construction and new soils brought onto site can change the soil infiltration rate.
"We also noticed that Echo Lake is quite high after the rains last week, possibly raising the water table in the vicinity. City staff will monitor the site and work with the contractor and design staff to learn how best to proceed."
Deal said that all in all, the park improvements look good and will be a nice addition to the park when the turf area gets established for the community to enjoy.
At this time no date has been selected for a dedication or park opening.
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8 comments:
Standing water, ponding and "high water table" indicate that this part of Echo Lake is in reality a part of the extended WETLAND. It should be respected as such and planted with wetland plants as an amenity and educational asset. It could be treated as a natural "rain garden" which treats and accommodates the waters there. It could be an educational and functional asset rather than one more piece of lawn to maintain and fertilize with chemicals.
@7:00 Don't fix the bug, change the spec? No, this is an engineering failure, just like the interurban trail pedestrian bridge. Wait until redevelopment of the light rail station areas starts. The combination of unintentional daylighting and intentional canopy removal will no doubt cause big and little ponds and streams to sprout up all over the place. I can imagine the City's surprise because they aren't taking that into consideration.
Once the fence comes down, the restroom can be restored to it's pre-construction use: a den for doing heroin or meth, located just steps away from the transit center, for your convenience.
Shoreline needs to get its head out of its lawn.
Thank you, Janet Way! Are there options for the City to use less harmful lawn care treatments than are currently in use?
Anon - yes, of course there are more sustainable methods of lawn care. And as I mentioned, it would be easy to turn this accidental pond into a raingardens. Native wetland plantains could be utilized that would require little maintenance, and no chemical applications. It would solve many problems and provide habitat for butterflies and birds. What could be lovelier?
Janet - please inform us of the chemicals being used by the City of. Shoreline near Echo Lake. Thank you
I do not have any specifics. I know that the City Parks does not use chemical pesticides or herbicides as a policy, except in unusual circumstances. However, I do not know about chemical fertilizers. Perhaps Mr Deal can tell us?
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