Bellevue Watershed Management Plan

Streams run parallel to our lives in Bellevue. Here, I-90 borders the Mercer Slough wetland towards downtown Bellevue. The slough is Lake Washington’s largest remaining wetland.

What is a watershed?

A watershed is the entire area that drains to a specific body of water such as a stream, lake, or a wetland. Watersheds include everything that exists on that area of land – roads, houses, buildings, and parks. What happens on the land in our watersheds impacts the health of our streams, lakes, and wetlands. In Bellevue, we all live in watersheds and have a responsibility to help keep these natural environments healthy.

Stream health is one of the best ways to measure the health of the surrounding watershed. A healthy stream has clean water, habitat for fish and wildlife, and enough room to flow through our landscapes. If we work together, we can all support healthy streams.

Bellevue borders Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish, and has three small lakes – Phantom Lake, Larsen Lake and Lake Bellevue. Over 800 acres (or 1,000 football fields) of wetlands in Bellevue help prevent stormwater runoff from causing floods or erosion. Our wetlands also provide habitat for fish and wildlife.

What do you think of when you think of a healthy stream?

Bellevue has more than 80 miles of streams that are home to salmon and many other types of fish and wildlife.

Bellevue’s landscape has changed dramatically in the past 150 years, from forests and farmland to a bustling city. Growing our thriving communities has affected the health of our waterways and the fish and wildlife who call them home.

How do our actions impact our watersheds?

• More pollution enters our streams from stormwater. Stormwater is rainwater that runs off hard surfaces like rooftops, paved streets, highways, and parking lots. When rain falls over these surfaces, it picks up pollutants like fertilizers, soap, oil, and dirt. This polluted stormwater flows into storm drains and can harm streams, lakes and wetlands.
  
  
• Natural surfaces filter water and help prevent stormwater from entering streams. Too much stormwater running into streams from hard surfaces, even if it’s not carrying pollution, can erode stream banks and harm fish and wildlife habitat.

What happens in our watersheds impacts the water quality and habitat conditions of Lake Sammamish and Lake Washington, and ultimately, our Puget Sound.

The Watershed Management Plan will recommend actions for the City to help improve the health of our waterways.

These types of actions could include:

• Projects, such as controlling and treating rainwater runoff from city streets before it gets into streams.
  
  
• Programs, like helping people who live near streams to better care for them and removing barriers so fish can move easily through our streams.
  
  
• Policies or regulations, such as incentives for developers or homeowners to build facilities to clean runoff before it gets into streams.
  
  
• Enhanced maintenance, like more street sweeping to prevent pollutants from entering streams

We need the help of our residents, businesses, and community partners to develop an effective plan that will help us improve our streams now and in the future.

Here are some of the ways you can get involved over the next year, as the plan is being developed:

• Learn more about the project on this website - and watch our short video!
  
  
• Take our short survey by September 30 to help us plan for healthier streams.
  
  
• Learn more about upcoming events and sign up for email updates.