The Washington Legislature has reassigned a long-term project to restore Capitol Lake into an estuary, taking it away from the hands of the Department of Enterprise Services (DES) and handing it over to the Department of Ecology.
The transfer is being carried out as part of the state budget process. Senate Bill 5195, which outlines the 2025–26 capital budget, includes a provision to formalize the shift in responsibility and allocates $14.75 million for the project.
The bill is currently awaiting Gov. Bob Ferguson's approval, after being passed by the Senate on Sunday, April 27.
Section 3031 of the capital appropriations bill acknowledged the work that DES has put into the project, but stated the “substantial investment necessary for the estuary restoration plan as currently proposed is not feasible.”
Ferguson’s proposed allocation for the project was $25.5 million for this budget cycle, but the state anticipates spending an additional $453 million over the years due to the wide scope of the project.
The project includes the demolition of Fifth Avenue Dam and its reconstruction as a bridge, the restoration of the lake into an estuary through dredging work and the creation of new habitat areas, recreational improvements, and roadway improvements, such as the replacement of the bridge on Percival Cove.
“In an effort to both address the degraded lake water quality and identify a cost-effective approach to an estuary restoration that the state can responsibly support, the legislature intends to transfer management of this aquatic ecosystem to a state agency with natural resources expertise,” the bill stated.
Of the $14.75 million appropriation, $8 million will be set use so Ecology can continue the design of the project. The department is tasked with delivering an updated plan that recommends a series of phased projects over several budget cycles and identifies non-state funding sources.
Aspects of the project that relate to recreational and pedestrian improvements must be separated so they can be funded at a future date.
An additional $4 million will support the development of a lake management plan focused on improving water quality. The plan must address strategies for reducing algae, removing invasive species, improving sediment conditions, managing excess nutrients, expanding wetlands, restoring shorelines and planting native vegetation.
Previously, DES had evaluated the option of maintaining Capitol Lake as a “managed lake,” as one of its long-term management alternatives for the site before it decided to pursue the restoration of the estuary.
Ecology is given until Sept. 1, 2026, to deliver the updated designs and the lake management plan.
The remaining funds within the allocated budget include $2 million for land acquisition and $750,000 for project management.
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Ceepie
The governor’s first name is Bob, not Bill.
Friday, May 2 Report this
Scooter
DES should be out of the picture. Let a department handle the situation that has scientific expertise instead of emotional responses to almost every situation. btw...I am not in favor of a mud flat. I am, however, in favor of salmon restoration but I think the wrong minds were at the table.
Friday, May 2 Report this
bonaro
Hopefully DOE will inflate the cost of this backward thinking project to the point it is not possible.
Capitol lake was designed as a sediment trap for the Deschutes river, a task it performs very well. Regular dredging maintenance was part of the plan that the State has failed to perform for 40 years, which is why it is now shallow and choked with sediment.
Being choked with sediment is the root reason they use for creating an estuary but it is a self created problem. 100's of millions of dollars will be spent to address the problem they created.
They talk about increased recreation... go to Mudd Bay and observe the amount of recreation, there will be zero.
They talk about restoration of habitat. How valuable is wildlife habitat in the middle of an urban setting?
This is liberal utopia pipe dream and it will not work. It will deliver none of what they claim and it will cost us 100's millions to prove that.
Saturday, May 3 Report this
Truzick
Could do it for $100.
Open dam doors.
Done.
Saturday, May 3 Report this
Porter
That's a tonne of cash. I'll shovel that muck out of the lake for half as much.
Saturday, May 3 Report this
MisPeeps
Most of the comments here are very short-sighted and thoughtless. Estuaries are the life and nursery for everything in the water. It will be beautiful and it will function as nature intended estuaries to function.
I'm incredibly excited to see it restored!
Saturday, May 3 Report this
DanaMadsen
I notice from the discussion in the article that the legislature appropriated 14.75 million for the project, none of which will be spent actually doing any physical work. The money, in normal State fashion, will all disappear into the pockets of bureaucrats, consultants and planners with no actual work being done.
Saturday, May 3 Report this
nkhloly
The transfer is a good move. DES has done well to get the project to this point but shifting it to Ecology just makes sense.
I’d like to see faster progress and a larger allocation, given the significance of the Deschutes and Budd Bay to this community and the South Sound.
Perhaps this change will bring fresh eyes and better alternatives to the plan.
Sunday, May 4 Report this
Olywelcomesall
DES has done good job of bringing together the various interests and the Squaxin Tribe to settle on science based approach to restoring the estuary. The lake is dead and every study showed that it cannot be restored into a lake. The costliest option is to attempt to dredge and treat the lake like a swimming pool.
All the many studies and in-depth EIS came to that conclusion. The legislature paid for those studies. Now they attempt to ignore their own studies and get Department of Ecology to spend 4 million youidentify options to improve the water quality of a lake already declared dead by science. Let’s hope the 8 million to continue estuary design work will get us closer to restoring the estuary.
Friday, May 23 Report this