Just off of Avondale Road in Woodinville, Cottage Lake Creek runs between two residential neighborhoods. Residents on both sides of the creek enjoy hearing the sounds of the running water, observing the birds, deer, fish, and other wildlife it attracts, and, of course, watching the spawning salmon run through their back yards on their long journey to return to their natal stream. However, in the midst of this idyllic creek, there is a historic weir that has caused major hydrologic changes to the streambed and impacted the transport of sediment downstream. According to residents, roughly 100 years ago the weir was built to help with pasture irrigation when the area was still agricultural. Throughout the century the property was subdivided into residential homes and the weir fell into disrepair, no longer serving a purpose for irrigation, but still causing backwatering and sedimentation upstream. More recently, the fish ladder that used to aid spawning salmon in their attempts to cross upstream of the weir have failed, and with the addition of declining salmonid populations, fewer and fewer salmonids are able to make it past this barrier to spawn. Two former cement bridge-supports just downstream of the weir are in the process of falling into the creek, causing an even more severe fish barrier.

Cottage Lake Creek is a unique stream, spanning less than 7 miles from it’s headwaters in Cottage Lake to its confluence with Bear Creek in Redmond. Despite its small size, Cottage Lake Creek is one of the highest priority streams for restoration in the watershed, supporting one of the few remaining populations of wild ESA-listed Puget Sound Chinook salmon, in addition to Puget Sound Coho and sockeye salmon, and steelhead, cutthroat, and resident trout. Declining salmonid populations in recent years have highlighted the need to remove any barriers that may reduce the ability of the returning spawners to get to their spawning grounds. Fish passage barriers are classified by WDFW according to how “passable” they are to fish. According to WDFW’s Salmonscape Website, the Cottage Lake Creek Weir is 67% passable. That classification also occurred prior to one of the bridge supports falling into the creek, causing another barrier, and likely decreasing how passable the structure is, as a whole. 

In 2020, homeowners around the weir contacted Mid Sound Fisheries to help design and implement the removal of the weir, and subsequent habitat restoration of the surrounding area. Since then, Mid Sound and design consultant DCG-Watershed have consulted with the surrounding property owners about their hopes for the project and developed a Conceptual Design and Report based on feedback from residents, local tribes, and other permitting agencies. Mid Sound will continue to update this page with information on the progress of design and permitting for this project. We are excited and honored to have the trust of the community and the opportunity to help restore this vital stream!