Lower Cedar River Basin and Nonpoint Pollution Action Plan

The Lower Cedar River Basin planning area extends from the Landsburg Dam to the river mouth in Renton, a 66 square mile area encompassing both the northern and southern plateaus and the mainstem valley. The lower basin has an extensive water system that includes 15 named tributaries, many high-value wetlands, lakes, aquifers and the Cedar River itself. Land uses in the lower basin range from the Renton urban center to adjacent suburbanizing areas to rural and forest zones to the east. The basin planning area is home to a growing population estimated at 55,400 in 1990 and projected to be 93,000 by 2010.

The Lower Cedar River Basin and Nonpoint Pollution Action Plan describes current conditions in the basin and proposes solutions to the problems of flooding, property damage and declining salmon and steelhead runs. It also recommends preventive measures to protect and maintain water quality, groundwater supplies and habitat as the basin planning area continues to develop. Preventing problems in the watershed is much more cost-effective in the long term than trying to correct problems once they occur.

The recommendations in the Cedar River Basin Plan have been prioritized into a Core Plan that identifies key capital projects and ongoing programs that would, at a minimum, accomplish the Plan's most important goals. This Core Plan would:

• Resolve the threat of hazardous flooding for approximately 90 percent of the 130 homes currently at greatest risk;
• Protect the most valuable remaining aquatic habitat sites in the basin planning area, restore those with the best chance for recovery, and ensure long term productivity of Cedar River salmon and steelhead; and
• Maintain the Cedar River's high water quality.

The Cedar River Basin Plan combines a traditional King County Basin Plan, jointly funded by King County and the City of Renton, with a Nonpoint Source Pollution Action Plan partially funded by the Washington Department of Ecology. The Plan was prepared under the policy direction of the Watershed Management Committee composed of key tribal, state and local government agencies and non-governmental organizations and a Citizens Advisory Committee, made up of area residents. King County's Surface Water Management Division acted as lead in plan preparation.

Find more information about the Lower Cedar River Basin and Nonpoint Pollution Action Plan at the King County website.