Restoration sites
Thea Foss Waterway cleanup
Hylebos Creek Parson Site Consolidated Habitat Area
Environmental Stewardship Project
Water monitoring
West Nile virus
Sustainable stormwater management
Surface water studies
Restoration Sites
Restoring Tacoma’s natural beauty
The City of Tacoma is committed to the health of Commencement Bay and the Puget Sound. Because of this commitment, the City has taken the lead on several projects to restore natural resources that have been damaged by years of urbanization and industry.
Through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) program started in 1997, Tacoma has worked on five habitat restoration sites, covering almost 44 acres of freshwater and saltwater habitat for salmon and other aquatic species.
Restored areas:
- Middle Waterway
1701 East F Street
The 1.85-acre piece of land next to Middle Waterway has been cleaned of its contaminated materials and reconstructed into an intertidal salt marsh. Volunteers planted native plants near the water to restore the habitat necessary for juvenile chinook, pink and chum salmon from the Puyallup River.
Cost: About $1.5 million *
Timeline: Construction complete 2000, planting complete 2001, monitored 2000-2005.
- Swan Creek
2717 Pioneer Way East
Located on 12 acres of property bordering Swan Creek near Tacoma city limits and the Puyallup River, this project included enhancement of the existing Haire wetland. The connection between the wetland and Swan Creek was improved to allow salmon and other fish easier passage. Invasive plant species were removed and native plants were planted to restore the riparian areas around the creek and wetland.
Cost: $580,000
Timeline: Construction and planting completed 2001, monitored 2002-2007
- Olympic View Resource Area (Currently being monitored)
202 East F Street
This 12.4-acre area includes land that the state Commissioner of Public Lands has withdrawn from leasing. To restore the area, 600 pilings were removed and 11 tons of contaminated sediment was replaced with 22 tons of clean sediment. The work returned the Olympic View upland and aquatic areas to its natural condition and preserved one of the last remaining eel grass beds in Commencement Bay.
Cost: $3.3 million
Timeline: Construction and planting completed 2002, monitor 2003-2008
- Tahoma Salt Marsh (Currently being monitored)
1741 North Schuster Parkway
Nestled along the Ruston Way shoreline, a bowl-shaped salt marsh and upland areas were created in this area to restore riparian habitat. Contractors removed more than 6,000 cubic yards of soil. The clean soil was reused to create the upland areas and nearly 1,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil was properly disposed of off-site. Volunteers planted more than 6,000 native plants near the water.
Cost: About $1.1 million*
Timeline: Construction complete 2003, monitor 2004-2009
Restoration projects in progress:
*Restoration work at the Middle Waterway and Tahoma Salt Marsh sites was funded by the City of Tacoma and the Commencement Bay Natural Resource Trustees: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Washington State Department of Ecology, Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife; The Puyallup Tribe of Indians and Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.
E-mail contact for this page: Community Relations
Updated 10/23/08