Silver Lake Watershed Advisory Council SLWAC, Everett, WA Videos
Videos by Silver Lake Watershed Advisory Council SLWAC in Everett. The Silver Lake Watershed Advisory Council (SLWAC) reviews and advises the county on the development and adoption of plans to improve Silver Lake.
Silver Lake has limited water flow. In addition to being in an advanced stage of eutrophication (nature trying to fill in the lake), one of the problems the lake has is there is very little fresh water exchange and a lot of stagnant water. Hemlock creek is the biggest inlet to the lake, and you can watch the water flow slowly into lake, and then the flow is difficult to map. Hemlock creek is on the same side of the lake as the weir/outlet creek, so fresh water has a short path to flow in, and then back out of, the lake.
One of the recommendations ecologists have had to try to improve water exchange and water quality is to open the radial gate in February, while keeping the fish ladder passable, to let out some of the stagnant water and let fresh rainfall (and of course run off from the land) refill the lake. The Watershed Advisory Council Requested the Silverlake Flood Control District, who manages the radial gate, open the gate.
Flood Control opened the gate for a total of 23 days, measuring the lake every day to ensure the level of the lake didn’t go too low. The ecologists recommended opening the gate for 30 days, so we may try to open it for seven more days. We just want to time the gate being open with expected rainfall. The lake is now back up to the level it was before we opened the gate.
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Silver Lake has limited water flow. In addition to being in an advanced stage of eutrophication (nature trying to fill in the lake), one of the problems the lake has is there is very little fresh water exchange and a lot of stagnant water. Hemlock creek is the biggest inlet to the lake, and you can watch the water flow slowly into lake, and then the flow is difficult to map. Hemlock creek is on the same side of the lake as the weir/outlet creek, so fresh water has a short path to flow in, and then back out of, the lake. One of the recommendations ecologists have had to try to improve water exchange and water quality is to open the radial gate in February, while keeping the fish ladder passable, to let out some of the stagnant water and let fresh rainfall (and of course run off from the land) refill the lake. The Watershed Advisory Council Requested the Silverlake Flood Control District, who manages the radial gate, open the gate. Flood Control opened the gate for a total of 23 days, measuring the lake every day to ensure the level of the lake didn’t go too low. The ecologists recommended opening the gate for 30 days, so we may try to open it for seven more days. We just want to time the gate being open with expected rainfall. The lake is now back up to the level it was before we opened the gate.