Project to Return Kokanee to Our Streams

Lyon Creek at LFP Town Center

By Jim Halliday Co-Chair Streamkeepers

At the June 24th appreciation / celebration of the Lake Forest Park (LFP) StreamKeepers’ Town Center Rain Garden, the public got the first word about the LFP Stewardship Foundation’s “Return Kokanee to Our Streams” project. 

Again, with funding help from King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski and the director of King County’s Waterworks Grant Program Elizabeth Louden; the City of Lake Forest Park, the LFP Stewardship Foundation, LFP StreamKeepers, the University of Washington Bothell, and other environmental groups at the north end of Lake Washington, such as Trout Unlimited and People for an Environmentally Responsible Kenmore (PERK), are working together to improve the quality of the water in all our communities’ streams.

Our shared goal is making them safe for salmon, such as the landlocked Kokanee salmon, which once was the pre-dominant native species in our creeks and this watershed.

The LFP Stewardship Foundation is partnering with two UW Bothell professors, Dr. Jeff Jensen and Dr. Rob Turner, both of whom also attended the Rain Garden event. Dr. Jeff Jensen conceived the idea of returning Kokanee to these waters. Under his supervision his students are designing Kokanee egg incubators that will be installed along Lyon Creek.

Dr. Rob Turner has undertaken the scientific testing of catch basin filters to find out if they are effective in removing pollutants (heavy metals and polycarbons) in stormwater runoff from our roads.

At the Town Center Rain Garden celebration (see previous article), Dr. Turner introduced one of the graduate students he is mentoring, Justin Felder, who is taking the samples, getting valuable data, as well as gaining academic credit. Justin has completed the second scientific report that is a result of this ongoing partnership. The local/ global firm IEH Laboratories is supporting this project by providing testing services pro bono.

This “Return Kokanee Salmon to Our Steams” project is a multifaceted effort you’ll be hearing more about in the future.

If you are interested in the “Return Kokanee to Our Streams” project and/or are a Lyon Creek homeowner, contact the LFP Stewardship Foundation.