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Estuaries provide excellent wildlife habitat and beauty

Restore Deschutes Estuary in Washington State

Target:
250
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Capitol Lake Adaptive Management Plan Steering Committee (CLAMP) studied the options of continuing the lake versus restoring Deschutes Estuary for over ten years at a cost of over one million dollars. CLAMP knows more about this issue than any other single entity in the world.

CLAMP determined that Deschutes Estuary restoration is the best option both economically and environmentally and recently recommended estuary restoration the Linda Villegas Bremer, Director and decision maker for the Washington State Department of General Administration.

Now is the time to voice your support of Deschutes Estuary restoration on Puget Sound.

This restoration project will add 260 acres of highly valuable estuary and will help restore the failing health of Puget Sound.

Capital Lake Adaptive Management Plan Steering Committee (CLAMP) is seeking public input about the possibility of restoring Deschutes Estuary at the southern end of Puget Sound, located at the base of Washington State's Capitol Campus in Olympia.

Capitol Lake is a reservoir formed in 1951 by impounding the Deschutes River Estuary with an earthen dam on 5th Ave. in Olympia, WA. The lake has many problems and is significantly responsible for causing some of the worst water quality in Budd Inlet on the southern reaches of Puget Sound, WA as measured by Washington State Dept. of Ecology. The lake is filling with sediment and will become a marsh if not dredged.

It will cost tens of millions more to keep the lake than restore the estuary.

An engineering consultant calculated that it would potentially cost over 1 Billion dollars (that is billion with a B) to dredge Capitol Lake over 50 years.

Once the Deschutes Estuary is created, there will be no cost to dredge the estuary. The worst case cost to dredge the nearby marina's and port is less than 1/3rd the cost of maintaining and dredging Capitol Lake reservoir over 50 years.

The Science is in amigo, there is nothing left to ponder. The estuary is best option for Puget Sound and Budd Inlet.

All the scientific studies clearly show a major ecological advantage to wildlife, water quality and therefore the health of our ailing Puget Sound with Deschutes Estuary restoration.

All the scientific studies show that a restored Deschutes Estuary is better for the long term health of Budd Inlet and South Puget Sound.

It is much cheaper to restore Deschutes Estuary then it is to maintain Capitol Lake over the next 50 years.

The local marinas and the Port of Olympia will continue to operate as usual after Deschutes Estuary restoration.

Please sign this petition to show your support of Deschutes Estuary restoration.

Thank you,

Paul J Allen

Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team

Capitol Lake Adaptive Management Plan Steering Committee (CLAMP) studied the options of continuing the lake versus restoring Deschutes Estuary for over ten years at a cost of over one million dollars. CLAMP knows more about this issue than any other single entity in the world.

CLAMP determined that Deschutes Estuary restoration is the best option both economically and environmentally and recently recommended estuary restoration the Linda Villegas Bremer, Director and decision maker for the Washington State Department of General Administration.

Now is the time to voice your support of Deschutes Estuary restoration on Puget Sound.

This restoration project will add 260 acres of highly valuable estuary and will help restore the failing health of Puget Sound.

Capital Lake Adaptive Management Plan Steering Committee (CLAMP) is seeking public input about the possibility of restoring Deschutes Estuary at the southern end of Puget Sound, located at the base of Washington State's Capitol Campus in Olympia.

Capitol Lake is a reservoir formed in 1951 by impounding the Deschutes River Estuary with an earthen dam on 5th Ave. in Olympia, WA. The lake has many problems and is significantly responsible for causing some of the worst water quality in Budd Inlet on the southern reaches of Puget Sound, WA as measured by Washington State Dept. of Ecology. The lake is filling with sediment and will become a marsh if not dredged.

It will cost tens of millions more to keep the lake than restore the estuary.

An engineering consultant calculated that it would potentially cost over 1 Billion dollars (that is billion with a B) to dredge Capitol Lake over 50 years.

Once the Deschutes Estuary is created, there will be no cost to dredge the estuary. The worst case cost to dredge the nearby marina's and port is less than 1/3rd the cost of maintaining and dredging Capitol Lake reservoir over 50 years.

The Science is in amigo, there is nothing left to ponder. The estuary is best option for Puget Sound and Budd Inlet.

All the scientific studies clearly show a major ecological advantage to wildlife, water quality and therefore the health of our ailing Puget Sound with Deschutes Estuary restoration.

All the scientific studies show that a restored Deschutes Estuary is better for the long term health of Budd Inlet and South Puget Sound.

It is much cheaper to restore Deschutes Estuary then it is to maintain Capitol Lake over the next 50 years.

The local marinas and the Port of Olympia will continue to operate as usual after Deschutes Estuary restoration.

Please sign this petition to show your support of Deschutes Estuary restoration.

Thank you,

Paul J Allen

Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team

We the undersigned strongly encourage the Capitol Lake Adaptive Management Plan Steering Committee (CLAMP) to recommend Deschutes Estuary restoration to Linda Bremer, Director of Washington State General Administration.
We understand that a restored Deschutes Estuary is feasible, costs less tax dollars over the long-term, provides greater benefit to the health of Budd Inlet and Puget Sound, than maintaining Capitol Lake reservoir.
Please add this petition to the public record in support of Deschutes Estuary restoration.
Thank you very much for considering the opinion of these petitioners.
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We signed the "Restore Deschutes Estuary in Washington State" petition!
# 158:
12:49 pm PST, Nov 2, Justin Prazak, Washington
I think this is where solid science and financial management combine. We've done the study, we've seen the figures, and we know that the lake is not healthy. Let's go back to the estuary, as it was meant to be. Don't throw out the findings of the report.
# 157:
1:21 pm PDT, Oct 30, Brian Frisina, Washington
# 156:
6:23 pm PDT, Aug 3, Allen Stanton, Washington
# 155:
5:59 pm PDT, Jul 29, Laurinda Shelly, Washington
# 154:
10:19 pm PDT, Jul 20, Liliane Bartha, Washington
# 153:
5:57 pm PDT, Jul 10, Rhonda Nolasco, California
# 152:
10:17 am PDT, Jul 7, SANDY BERRY, Washington
# 151:
8:08 pm PDT, Jun 27, Connie Christy, Washington
# 150:
10:01 pm PDT, Jun 21, Erika Hoffman, Washington
I urge you to support efforts to fully restore the Deschutes Estuary. Doing so will preserve valuable estuarine marsh habitat in Puget Sound. It is completely appropriate and symbolically important to do this in the capital city! The Port of Olympia and other marinas will have to allocate the funds necessary to maintain their berth depths. Most other ports and marinas in this state that are economically viable are able to afford dredging and disposal of dredged material. In particular, once the cleanup of contaminated sediments that are unsuitable for aquatic disposal is completed (as part of the anticipated Ecology-led continuation of the Budd Inlet clean-up), there will be little impediment to affordable long-term maintenance of port/marina depths.
# 149:
11:16 pm PDT, Jun 20, Randy Carman, Washington
# 148:
12:50 pm PDT, Jun 19, Connie Pyles, Washington
# 147:
11:29 am PDT, Jun 19, Gwen Atkinson, Washington
# 146:
1:43 am PDT, Jun 19, Gail Dair, Australia
# 145:
5:32 pm PDT, Jun 18, Anne Overby, Washington
It makes most sense for the environment and our pocketbooks to return to an estuary. We have work ahead. Many are deterred by the money already spent around the lake but the dredging dollars/taxes makes me reconsider how I love to walk around the lake. There will be more interesting views, similar to Nisqually! We can hope now for a change for clean water and healthy salmon runs.
# 144:
7:30 am PDT, Jun 18, Gabriel Taylor, Washington
# 143:
12:11 am PDT, Jun 18, Mike Melton, Washington
The estuary would be a fantastic resource for Olympia.
# 142:
9:41 pm PDT, Jun 17, Andrea Gage, Washington
# 141:
6:09 pm PDT, Jun 17, Name not displayed, Washington
# 140:
1:48 pm PDT, Jun 17, Yael Arnon, Israel
# 139:
12:54 pm PDT, Jun 17, Bernard Steckler, Washington
This is a critically important example of acting to restore a mutually rewarding relationship between humankind and nature.
# 138:
10:20 am PDT, Jun 17, Tamara Keeton, Washington
Yes!
# 137:
10:07 am PDT, Jun 17, Carolyn Prouty, Washington
The estuary is one of our most lovely natural resources, and pouring money ongoingly to resist what nature is wanting to make happen is like rebuilding on the beach in a hurricane zone. It does not make sense, and it is an old-school way of dealing with our relationship with the water with which we live.

YES, please.

# 136:
8:37 am PDT, Jun 17, Diane Mettler, Washington
# 135:
8:02 am PDT, Jun 17, Joshua Berger, Washington
# 134:
7:51 am PDT, Jun 17, Robert Markey, Washington
# 133:
7:46 am PDT, Jun 17, Rebecca Chamberlain, Washington
My family has lived in the Puget Sound for six generations, and I grew up swimming in the Sound. My auntie's home was across from the fifth ave. bridge. I have a personal investment, for the children of future generations, to restore the Sound to its pristine state. We cannot afford to let this go.

My family has lived in the Puget Sound for six generations, and I grew up swimming in the Sound. My auntie's home was across from the fifth ave. bridge. I have a personal investment, for the children of future generations, to restore the Sound to its pristine state. We cannot afford to let this go.

# 132:
7:05 am PDT, Jun 17, Katherine Kelly, Washington
Yes!
# 131:
6:40 am PDT, Jun 17, Michael Moore, Washington
# 130:
9:46 pm PDT, Jun 15, Amy Cole, Washington
# 129:
8:57 pm PDT, Jun 15, Name not displayed, Washington
# 127:
1:35 pm PDT, Jun 11, Glen Alexander, Washington
# 128:
1:33 pm PDT, Jun 11, Julie Moore, Washington
# 126:
11:56 am PDT, Jun 11, Rein Attemann, Washington
# 125:
11:55 am PDT, Jun 11, Walter Jorgensen, Washington
A saltwater, marine estuary will be much more interesting visually, functional ecologically, and, contrary to popular myth, will not smell bad. Our capitol will look much more authentic as the jewel in a natural setting rather than just the backdrop for one more reflecting pool. It would be one thing if the reflective pool were indeed a separate, artificial construct with mechanical recirculation, but it is a gross embellishment of a water body still trying to function as part of a natural system.
# 124:
10:44 pm PDT, Jun 10, Stephen Langer, Washington
The Deschutes River is the rare river whose estuary can still be restored. It would improve the chances for salmon, increase water quality and lessen the impacts of flooding. Let's do it now while we have the chance!
# 122:
6:02 pm PDT, Jun 10, Harry Branch, Washington
Restoring the estuary would increase primary production and dissolved oxygen, provide habitat for a variety of species in a variety of life stages and be very beautiful. It wouldn't smell bad or mean the end for the Port, Yacht Club and other marinas.
# 121:
6:32 am PDT, Jun 8, John Kersting, Washington
There have been too many studies that ignore the impact of restoration in a positive way. The amount of salmon that would return is reason enough, but the simple fact is that politics is getting in the way of common sense.

The Puget Sound will only get healthier when these small dams are taken down, the wetlands are allowed to clean the water and intrusive dredging becomes a thing of the past.

# 120:
9:46 pm PDT, Jun 7, Rachel Laderman, Washington
I would much rather smell a healthy tidal estuary than the lake, which has an unhealthy stench and gets so full of algae after a few warm weeks.
# 119:
4:02 pm PDT, Jun 7, Marie Poland, Washington
# 118:
9:40 am PDT, Jun 7, Joanne Lee, Washington
Restoration of the Deschutes Estuary is the right thing to do and now is the right time to do it. Although restoration is the most cost effective solution, the health and beauty of Budd Inlet are primary reasons to return this body of water to its natural state. Economics, ecology and aesthetics are all pointing in the same direction - restoration.
# 117:
8:19 am PDT, Jun 7, Jessica Bateman, Washington
# 116:
9:31 pm PDT, Jun 6, Barbara Scavezze, Washington
DEFINITELY!
# 115:
9:22 am PDT, Jun 6, Dan Grosboll, Washington
We should be part of the solution for the recovery of Puget Sound rather than remaining part of the problem.
# 114:
8:52 am PDT, May 22, Angeline Zalben, Washington
# 113:
8:40 pm PDT, May 14, Amanda Taylor, Florida
# 112:
11:59 pm PDT, May 6, Ari R. Kolman, Canada
Native Plant Salvage Project

It makes more sense to restore the true nature of an area.

# 111:
8:51 pm PDT, Apr 24, Kyle Britz, Washington
DESCHUTES estuary needs SIGNATURES TO PROTECT THE VITALITY OF puget sound: sign on to support the stewardship and projected healthplans to revitalize and remediate the waters of the PACIFIC NORTH WEST
# 110:
8:10 am PDT, Apr 21, Sandi Bliguin, Canada
# 109:
8:35 am PDT, Apr 20, Name not displayed, France
# 108:
7:52 pm PDT, Apr 18, Leigh Bennett, Georgia
# 107:
6:06 am PDT, Apr 17, Dan Mayers, New York
Having kayaked in this region I appreciate its beauty and what this is as a natural resource.
# 106:
4:00 pm PDT, Apr 16, Nyack Clancy, New York
# 105:
10:15 pm PDT, Apr 12, Karen Janowitz, Washington
I completely support restoring the Deschutes Estuary. I understand that some people may oppose the restoration due to looks, smell, or just because it's different. Just a few years after the restoration, I believe that the increase in wildlife and human visitors will make the lake a distant memory.
# 104:
1:34 pm PDT, Apr 12, Robert Wideman, Pennsylvania
# 103:
10:52 am PDT, Apr 12, Anushka Wadhwaney, India
# 102:
1:09 am PDT, Apr 12, Ismail Shabana, Egypt
ofcourse yes
# 101:
6:55 pm PDT, Apr 11, Marjorie Geri, Florida
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