The Cedar River is closed from river mile 4.5 to 13.5 due to several downed logs spanning the corridor and blocking safe passage. Those logjams create hazards for recreationalists and habitat for fish — a policy puzzle King County is currently working to address.
King County has begun its seasonal monitoring of freshwater swimming beaches to ensure they are safe for recreation.
We are specialists in marine biology, nearshore ecology, environmental chemistry, limnology, toxicology, wildlife biology and biodiversity, microbiology, zoology and more.
Flooding has long been an issue along these lower six miles of the Tolt; many residences are at risk during even modest flood events. But also of concern is what is called channel migration, when the river changes course and cuts a new path, heedless, of course, of private property lines.
When Terry started, LiDAR – aerial imagery that uses laser to map river-basin topography – didn’t exist. Nor were GIS – Geographic Information Systems – or, for that matter, high-tech sonar-based river surveys in widespread use.
For a variety of organisms—including amphibians, birds, and plants—evolutionary adaptations to road effects can arise in just a few generations.
King County ecologists document species prior to river construction projects to plan for protection and relocation efforts, if necessary.
“Engineering: See It, Solve It” was the theme of the Feb. 9, Enumclaw STEM Expo. And since Science, technology, engineering and math are the cornerstones of the work done in the Water and Land Resources Division, naturally we were there to spark the interest of the next generation of our workforce.
