Capitol Lake

Capitol Lake
Location	Olympia / Tumwater, Washington, USA
Coordinates	47°1′59.81″N 122°54′31.58″W
Type	artificial lake, Formerly wetlands and estuary
Primary inflows	Deschutes River
Basin countries	United States
Max. length	3 km
Surface area	260 acres (1.1 km2)
Settlements	Tumwater, Olympia

Capitol Lake is a 3 kilometer long, 260-acre (1.1 km²) artificial lake at the mouth of Deschutes River in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington. The Olympia Brewery sits on Capitol Lake in Tumwater, just downstream from where the Tumwater Falls meet the lake. The Washington State Department of General Administration manages the lake, along with the rest of The Washington State Capitol Campus.

History

Prior to American settlement, the tidal basin at the southern tip of Budd Inlet was a productive shellfish gathering area for native peoples. After settlement in the mid-19th century, the basin received much of the wastewater and other effluent outflow from "uptown" Olympia. In the 1890s the Northern Pacific Railroad located a station and switching yard on the eastern shore of the basin.

The first proposal for creating Capitol Lake came when Leopold Schmidt of the Olympia Brewing Company proposed in 1895 to " mak(e) a fresh water lake of it by building a dam and locks near the Westside (Olympia) bridge."

In 1911 the State Capitol Commission held a nationwide competition for the design of the State Capitol Campus. The winning architects, Wilder and White, submitted a City Beautiful Movement plan which included creating a reflecting body of water to reflect the buildings on bluff by installing a tidelock at the mouth of the Deschutes River.

A much more limited lake was also part of the original landscape design by John Olmsted to reflect the Washington State Capitol building on Puget Sound. The lake as envisioned by Olmsted would have been created with a north to south running berm, as opposed to a east to west running damn.

In 1915, the the State Capitol Commission rejected a plan by former Olympia Mayor and state legislator P.H. Carlyon to replace Olympia's bridge to the westside with a dam and locks. That plan would have created a lake very much like the present Capitol Lake. Because of opposition from upriver Tumwater businesses, such as the Olympia Brewing Company and the Olympia Power and Light Company, that plan was not approved.

By 1930 the State Capitol Commission had abandoned "waterfront improvements" such as creation of the lake in their landscaping plan for the Capitol Campus.

By the mid-20th century, many itinerant residents lived in a ramshackle settlement of float houses and makeshift dwellings along the eastern shore, below the Washington State Capitol campus. This settlement, nicknamed "Little Hollywood" by locals, housed low-income tenants and was the scene of frequent police raids.

Creation of the present Capitol Lake began in 1937 when the state government began purchasing privately owned tidelands around the Capitol Campus. In 1941, opposition from Tumwater was finally overcome during a special town meeting.

In 1947, due in part by intense lobbying by Thurston County legislators, the state legislature approved funding for the creation of Capitol Lake.

Capitol Lake was created in 1951 when a dam was constructed consistent with the Wilder and White plan, but lacking a at tidelock that would have allowed for upriver shipping and possible exchange of fresh and saltwater. Capitol lake was formed when a berm and dam enclosed the tidal basin at the southern tip of Budd Inlet in the 1951. This allowed for the retention of the outflow from the Deschutes River to cover the tide flats.

Railroad bridge crossing Capitol Lake.

In the 1990s the North Capitol Campus Heritage Park was created with the Arc of Statehood from the Western Washington Inlet to the Eastern Washington Butte along the eastern edge of Capitol Lake.

The February, 2001 Nisqually Earthquake did considerable damage to Deschutes Parkway on the west side of the lake. Capital Lakefair, centered on the lake, is held annually in July. The trail around the lake is 1.5 miles long.

Controversy

Looking north along Capitol Lake.

Controversy surrounds Capitol Lake because it replaced an estuary. Because of a high rate of siltation, the lake was dredged periodically in the past to keep it from filling in, a classic case of eutrophication. Additionally, there is a milfoil infestation and poor water quality (it is closed to swimmers due to unsafe levels of E. coli). Since 2009 There has been evidence of New Zealand mudsnail infestation. There has been no adequate control and consequently the lake is rimmed with fencing and signage to keep the public away. However, it is known that the mudsnail (size of a grain of rice when mature) can "hitchhike" on water birds and thus can spread without human intervention.The Department of General Administration, other state and local agencies, and the Squaxin Island Tribe participated in a study entitled "The Capitol Lake Adaptive Management Plan" or "CLAMP" to determine the future of the lake. For 10 Years the CLAMP met, discussing alternative solutions to the issues of the lake. The CLAMP was dissolved due to budget issues, but not before establishing the best solution to the lake problems: remove the dam and restore the estuary. The State Legislature is expected to enact legislation to retain and improve Capitol Lake as part of the historic City Beautiful Movement design of the State Capitol Campus, or so is the belief of one of the two groups in Olympia that are actively involved in public education on the lake. That group is known as CLIPA, "Capital Lake Improvement..." another group, known as DERT, or "Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team" have actively educated the public on the benefits or dam removal and restoration of the free flowing waters of the Deschutes.

External links

• Information from Squaxin Tribe
• Information from Dept. of General Administration