What
and Where
An anadromous, year-round creek fed by springs and runoff,
Fauntleroy Creek drops 300 feet in elevation over its one-mile course from
wetlands in Fauntleroy Park to Puget Sound, due north of the ferry pier in
Fauntleroy Cove.
Water
Quality
Discharge is typically .5 cfs, with up to 4 cfs during
major storm events. Five years of
citizen testing documented dissolved-oxygen levels and water temperatures
satisfactory for salmonids; nitrate was the most measurable chemical.
Students annually sample for benthic diversity in the upper creek and
Seattle Public Utilities oversees sampling every other year in the lower creek.
Volunteers record data on rainfall and other habitat parameters during
the coho return.
Fish
Habitat
Historically a habitat for cutthroat trout, the creek has
provided nurturing habitat for coho salmon since 1991 when schoolchildren began
releasing Salmon in the Classroom fingerlings.
Coho spawners have been returning since 1994. In 1998, Seattle Public Utilities replaced the culvert under
Fauntleroy Way S.W. with a fishway that allows access as far east as 45th Avenue
S.W., where culvert design blocks fish passage.
Volunteers rally every fall to count returning spawners as part of the
countywide salmon watch.
Education
In cooperation with interested teachers and parents, creek
volunteers host field trips throughout the year for streamside education,
service learning, and scientific study, primarily for elementary students.
In 2003, 250 students participated in volunteer-coordinated field trips;
Seattle Parks coordinated salmon releases in the park for additional students.
Volunteers also support university students engaged in a variety of
water-related studies.
Watershed
Council
Residents began focusing on preserving and restoring the
creek in 1989. In 2001, the
community formed the Fauntleroy Watershed Council and adopted the Fauntleroy
Watershed Action Plan to guide continued stewardship of the creek corridor and
Fauntleroy Park, where Friends of Fauntleroy Park (an Adopt-a-Park group) has
been active since 1998. The council
meets bimonthly in public session, with standing representation from Seattle
Public Utilities and Seattle Parks and Recreation.
Public
Art
"Stream Echo," a multi-part sculpture created by
artist Tom Jay for the Seattle Arts Commission in 1998, graces the viewing plaza
above the fish ladder due east of the ferry terminal.
Installations by the same artist - with a saltwater theme - are adjacent
to the terminal in Cove Park, a shoreline street-end developed by the community
as a pocket park.
Contacts
Members of the Fauntleroy Watershed Council's executive
committee are
