Project Information

Efforts to manage Puget Sound water resources are taking place on many fronts. At both a state and regional level, there is a significant commitment to improving current practices and exploring new approaches to water management. This is taking place in a collaborative atmosphere involving many different stakeholders.

Funding for the Snoqualmie Streamflow Enhancement Project has been provided by the Washington Department of Ecology in the form of two grants : One to the East King County RWA and one to the City of North Bend.

The EKCRWA and the City of North Bend have partnered together to make the most efficient use of funds and to provide multiple benefits from the information developed.

The objectives of the Snoqualmie Streamflow Enhancement Project are to:

• Research and document the concept of streamflow augmentation using groundwater and evaluate the opportunities for augmentation at a statewide (big picture) level. The project will include a summary of case studies and typical groundwater/surface water settings where the concept is best applied.
• Examine the concept of streamflow augmentation within WRIA 7 and explore opportunities with stakeholders in WRIA 7.
• Field test the concept of streamflow augmentation using groundwater in the upper Snoqualmie Basin in partnership with the City of North Bend and further develop the existing technical database of information on the Snoqualmie Aquifer.
• Prepare a summary document of the research and findings, with an eye toward providing a template for future investigations throughout the state.

Project Schedule

A mitigation test of the Snoqualmie River Flow Enhancement concept is planned for Summer 2005. The mitigation test program consist of:

• Drilling a test well into the lower aquifer to about 300 ft belwo ground surface
• Pumping the test well for up to 4 weeks at a rate of up to 1,000 gallons per minute
• Measuring the water-level response in the test well and other outlying wells in the area, as well as in the Snoqualmie River itself
• Monitoring the recovery of water levels in the aquifer during the wet season this fall/winter
• Using a groundwater model to evaluate different combination of pumping rates and durations to predict the response of the aquifer under differeing scenarios