A $1.7 million project will move Squalicum Creek around Bug Lake. Here’s what to expect
Get ready to say bye-bye to Bug Lake, which is actually a pit dug up for fill material when Interstate 5 was built in the 1960s.
These days, the wide and shallow pond in Bellingham soaks up a lot of sunlight. That, in turn, heats up Squalicum Creek as it flows through — harming salmon because the water is too warm.
To help the salmon, the creek is being moved around Bug Lake as part of a $1.7 million project. This part, which starts July 13, is actually the second and third pieces of a bigger effort to improve water quality and otherwise make the creek more habitable for salmon and other wildlife.
And then Bug Lake will be changed back to what it was.
“About ¾ of it will be filled in to convert it back to the original forested wetland. The remaining 25% is in a particularly deep portion,” said Craig Mueller, project engineer with the city of Bellingham Public Works Department.
The first two phases, which were done in summer 2015, involved rerouting nearly a mile of Squalicum Creek around Sunset Pond, which also was man-made, shallow and wide, and absorbed a lot of heat from the sun.
The creek was put into a newly created channel that provided better habitat for salmon and that supported other fish, birds and mammals, Bellingham officials said previously. That part also eliminated fish passage barriers along James Street and I-5, opening up more than 22 miles of salmon habitat upstream.
Why the focus on Squalicum Creek?
The creek doesn’t meet state standards for water quality because the water is too warm. Associated problems include fecal coliform bacteria and dissolved oxygen levels that are inadequate. Declining salmon stocks also are a concern.
Despite the challenges, Bellingham officials have said Squalicum Creek has the greatest potential for high water quality and fish habitat within city limits, in part because it is the least hindered by development, and it offers the greatest habitat variety for salmon thanks to its tributaries.
The re-routes will help cool the creek’s water, which provides habitat for coho, chum, pink and Chinook salmon as well as steelhead trout. Chinook and steelhead are both listed in the Endangered Species Act.
Colder water is important because it holds more dissolved oxygen for organisms to uptake through their gills.
Bug Lake is located between Squalicum Parkway and I-5.
Construction for this part of the project, known as phase 3 and 4, will last until December, provided the scheduled isn’t affected by COVID-19 transmission. Then planting of native vegetation will continue through February.
The city said this part of the project will:
▪ Turn Bug Lake back to its historic condition as a forested wetland, totaling about 1.5 acres to help improve water quality. Squalicum Creek will be moved so it flows through a historic channel south of that wetland, cross under Squalicum Parkway in a new culvert that fish can pass — instead of preventing their migration — and follow two remnant channels northwest to rejoin the current creek channel.
▪ Reduce Squalicum Creek temperature as well as pollutants, including fecal coliform.
▪ Increase channel length as well as the cover and width of the creek’s banks west of Squalicum Parkway.
Traffic impact
The project will affect traffic during two to three weeks in July or August, when Squalicum Parkway will be reduced to one lane while a culvert is built under a road to allow for fish passage.
Construction will occur 24 hours a day at that time and flaggers will be there to direct traffic.
Outside of the culvert work, motorists should expect minor impacts to traffic because more trucks will be in the project area.
The city of Bellingham, Washington State Department of Ecology, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board are paying for the project, and Tiger Construction is working with the city on it.
