Written by Seven years into my Renton Council service, after years of witnessing heart-wrenching flooding in the May Creek Basin, we finally had a plan to fix it. Cities of Renton and Newcastle had teamed with King County, along with residents, property owners, and environmental experts, to develop the May Creek Basin Action Plan. Along with colleagues and scientists, I had trudged knee-deep in mud as we examined areas hardest hit by flooding and landslides. Our site surveys were followed by hours of meetings, and teamwork with maps, zoning plans, and development standards. I had special interest in the May Creek Basin plan, as I also served as Renton’s representative on WRIA 8 salmon recovery committee, and we were getting close to publishing our draft plan for saving Chinook Salmon in the Lake Washington, Cedar River, and Lake Samamish watersheds (which includes May Creek. )
We all knew there would be more development in the beautiful May Valley. The area is characterized by lovely historic homesteads offering healthy country living conditions just minutes from employment centers in Renton, Bellevue, and Issaquah. These homesteads were interspersed and surrounded with undeveloped land that potentially offered new picture-perfect home sites, so long as the flooding, landslides and sustainability could be brought under control.
May Creek in Renton. (Photo courtesy City of Renton.)
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