Thornton Creek Restoration

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) worked to restore Thornton Creek, the city’s largest urban stream, by addressing recurring flooding and wildlife habitat degradation. The Thornton Creek watershed covers roughly 11.6 square miles in northeast Seattle and Shoreline. Over 90% of the creek’s main channel, more than 15 miles, flows above ground through more than 700 backyards and through 15 parks and natural areas. It is both Seattle’s and Shoreline’s largest watershed, and drains into Lake Washington at Matthews Beach Park. That water ultimately goes through the Lake Washington Ship Canal to Puget Sound. The creek is a historic home to at least five species of Pacific salmon and trout. The city launched an $11 million experimental restoration in two reaches of Thornton Creek, rebuilding a total of 1,600 feet of the channel from the ground up. The idea was to see if a constructed hyporheic zone can provide localized water-quality treatment in an urban stream. See how Xylem Rental Solutions pumps were used to divert water and dewater the sites so that the necessary work could be done during the project. Video produced by Leaping Frog Films