Lake Washington
Lake Washington | |
---|---|
x̌ačuʔ ( Broken Island | |
References | King County[1] |
Lake Washington (
Lake Washington has been known to the Duwamish and other Indigenous peoples living on the lake for millennia as x̌ačuʔ (lit. "lake" in Lushootseed).[2] At the time of European settlement, it was recorded as At-sar-kal in a map sketched by engineer Abiel W. Tinkham;[3]: 10 and the Chinook Jargon name, Hyas Chuck ("great/large water"), was also used.[4] Other English names historically used for the lake include Lake Geneva by Isaac N. Ebey;[3]: 140 and Lake Duwamish in railroad surveys under Governor Isaac Stevens.[3]: 174 Lake Washington received its present name in 1854 after Thomas Mercer suggested it be named after George Washington, as the new Washington Territory had been named the year before.
The lake provides boating and sport fishing opportunities. Some fish species found in its waters include sockeye salmon, coho salmon, Chinook salmon, rainbow trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, and black crappie.[5]
Lake Washington has two passenger
Geography
A
Creeks and rivers
The main inflowing rivers are the Sammamish and Cedar Rivers, with the Cedar supplying most of the water. Seasonal changes in the flow of the Sammamish are moderated by a weir at the Lake Sammamish inlet.[6]
The lake is drained by the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
In addition, there are numerous small creeks and rivers which feed the lake, including:[7]
- Coal Creek
- Denny Creek (O.O. Denny Park)
- Fairweather Creek
- Forbes Creek
- Juanita Creek
- Kelsey Creek
- Little Creek
- Lyon Creek
- Mapes Creek
- May Creek
- McAleer Creek
- Mercer Slough
- Ravenna Creek
- Taylor Creek
- Thornton Creek
- Yarrow Creek
- Yesler Creek
Historically, construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal drastically changed the inflow and outflow of the lake. Before construction of the canal in 1916, Lake Washington's outlet was the
Canals and bridges
The Montlake Cut, part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, connects the lake to Lake Union and ultimately Puget Sound.
Concrete floating bridges are employed to span the lake because Lake Washington's depth and muddy bottom prevented the emplacement of the pilings or towers necessary for the construction of a
Many questioned the wisdom of concrete floating bridge technology after the sinking of a portion of the Lacey V. Murrow bridge on November 25, 1990. However, a Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) investigation revealed that the incident resulted from the improper handling of hydrodemolition water being used during bridge renovations, rather than in any basic flaw in the bridge's concept or design. Concrete floating bridges continue to remain a viable means for the conveyance of vehicle traffic over Lake Washington.[9]
In 1950, approximately one year after the
Shoreline cities and towns
The cities and towns bordering the lake, going clockwise from the west, are
Water purity
Around 1900, Seattle began discharging sewage into Lake Washington. During the 1940s and 1950s, eleven sewage treatment plants were sending state-of-the-art treated water into the lake at a rate of 20 million gallons per day. At the same time, phosphate-based detergents came into wide use. The lake responded to the massive input of nutrients by developing unpleasant blooms of noxious blue-green algae (cyanobacteria). The water lost its clarity, the desirable fish populations declined, and masses of dead algae accumulated on the shores of the lake. After significant pollution, the October 5, 1963 issue of the Post Intelligencer referred to the lake as "Lake Stinko". Citizen concern led to the creation of a system that diverted the treatment-plant effluents into nearby Puget Sound, where tidal flushing would mix them with open-ocean water.
The diversion was completed in 1968, and the lake responded quickly. The algal blooms diminished, the water regained its clarity, and by 1975, recovery was complete. Careful studies by a group of
See also
- Mount Baker Crew rowing club
- Seafair Cup hydroplane races
- Lake Sammamish
Notes
References
- ^ "Lake Washington Monitoring Overview". King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks Water and Land Resources Division. November 23, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ a b "The Waterlines Project Map" (PDF). The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
- ^ ISBN 9780598974808.
- ISBN 0-295-95158-3.
- ^ "Lake Washington – Fish Washington". Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.
- ^ Chrzastowski, Michael J. (1983). Historical changes to Lake Washington and route of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, King County, Washington (Report). U.S. Geological Survey.
- ^ The Watershed: the geography, Friends of the Cedar River Watershed, archived from the original on December 14, 2014
- ^ Lake Washington Ship Canal, HistoryLink.org
- ISBN 0-9614357-9-8.
- ISBN 0-9614357-9-8.
- ^ "Rescue of "Lake Stinko"". Archived from the original on 2009-02-27.