News release
| For immediate release: February 26, 2007 |
For more information: Jim Erskine, Communications, (360)
902-7206 |
State committee to update public March 1 on estuary study
Consultant to describe costs for converting Capitol Lake
OLYMPIA – The public is invited to learn more about a recently completed engineering report that estimates costs at $76 million to turn Capitol Lake in Olympia back into an estuary, a place where freshwater and saltwater mix.
The public can offer comments about the report at a community meeting scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. March 1 at Olympia City Hall.
The engineering report is one of four technical investigations being done as part of the $1 million Deschutes Estuary Feasibility Study. The goal is to determine if it is environmentally, economically and socially feasible to convert Capitol Lake, a 260-acre man-made impoundment, back into part of Puget Sound. A decision regarding the future of Capitol Lake will come later, following the completion of the study.
Some of the work necessary to restore an estuary includes removal of the Capitol Lake dam, construction of a new 5th Avenue bridge and dredging sediment from the lake.
The state Department of General Administration is responsible for maintaining Capitol Lake. The lake was formed in 1951 when the state dammed the Deschutes River where it empties into Budd Inlet.
The Capitol Lake Adaptive Management Plan Steering Committee, an advisory group to General Administration, is hosting the community meeting.
What: Community Meeting - Deschutes Estuary Feasibility Study
When: Thursday, March 1, 2007, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Olympia City Hall, 900 Plum St. SE, Olympia, WA
More information about Capitol Lake and the Deschutes Estuary Feasibility Study are available at: www.ga.wa.gov/CLAMP.
