SeaTac Des Moines Creek Trailhead

Des Moines Creek, a Puget Sound lowlands stream, emerged after the continental ice sheet and glaciers retreated some 15,000 years ago. The land around this waterway channels water into the creek where it eventually flows out to Puget Sound. This area of land is called a watershed.

For a long time, the stream was healthy and supported an abundant run of local salmon—a vital species which hold great ecological, cultural, and socioeconomic value to the peoples of the region.

Within the last century, urban development expanded into the Des Moines Creek watershed. This increased hard surfaces like roadways, parking lots, and rooftops. When it rains, more stormwater runs into the creek bringing pollutants with it. More urban development in the watershed takes away wildlife habitat and increases stormwater pollution in the creek.

Today, Des Moines Creek is a natural beauty worth saving. In and around the creek, you’ll still find Coho salmon, birds, and an abundance of life. The City of SeaTac’s goal is to protect, restore, and sustain the creek so that it can continue to support life and become healthier for future generations.

Streams are vital natural resources that offer benefits to both humans and animals. But many living organisms are sensitive to water and habitat quality, especially our iconic salmon. Their recovery depends on our community’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

The City of SeaTac protects and improves water quality by managing stormwater runoff through the implementation of various programs and projects. Our work educates the public, improves surface water quality, and enhances the health of the Des Moines Creek watershed.

Stormwater that falls on streets, roofs, and parking lots move through man-made systems (storm drains, pipes, ditches, and ponds) in the six square-mile watershed upstream of the creek itself. It all runs downhill to the 3.5-mile-long natural Des Moines Creek corridor adjacent to the park. The creek then flows into Puget Sound.

Urban stormwater runoff is a major source of surface water pollution. As stormwater flows across developed land, it picks up pollutants like car fluids, sediment, pesticides, herbicides, and bacteria from pet waste. Some of these pollutants can flow directly to local waterways and harm the organisms living there.

Salmon are a vital symbol of the Pacific Northwest, sustaining ecosystems, supporting local industries, and holding deep cultural significance. Their lifecycle spans rivers, streams, estuaries, and the ocean. Born in freshwater, they migrate downstream to the sea, where they mature before returning to their original streams to spawn. Along this journey, salmon face numerous challenges, including habitat degradation, stormwater pollution, and barriers that block access to spawning grounds.

Understanding the complexity of the salmon lifecycle and addressing these challenges is essential to preserving salmon populations and the ecosystems, communities, and traditions that rely on them.

Glaciers, lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, forests, and estuaries form an interconnected ecosystem that sustains both local wildlife and communities. As water flows downhill, it links these natural environments with the urban environment – roads, parking lots, vehicles, buildings, and bridges – that generate pollution and stormwater runoff. These impacts can disrupt the balance needed to support salmon, wildlife, and the ecosystems they depend on.

Understanding the complexity of this interconnected water system is essential to protecting water quality, preserving habitats, and creating a healthy ecosystem for future generations.

We can help improve the water quality in the creek by preventing pollutants from getting into stormwater or using nature to clean stormwater before it flows into the creek.

Green Stormwater infrastructure uses nature-based solutions to collect, slow, and treat stormwater. Slowing stormwater is important to reduce land erosion and ensure water flows through established creeks and riverbeds.

Features that demonstrate this include:

Increased tree canopy

Lowers creek temperature and can reduce stormwater runoff.

Permeable paving

Allow rainwater to infiltrate into the ground instead of running off.

Swales

Slows the flow of water.

Rain gardens

Collect water and allow it to infiltrate into the soil while also providing vegetation.

Habitat restoration

Repairs the creek ecosystem making it healthier for creek life.

Your actions have a direct impact on the quality of our water resources. There are many simple things you can do at home, and in your yard, that will help protect surface water quality and habitat throughout our city:

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