Capitol Lake likely to become estuary

OLYMPIA — Converting Capitol Lake to an estuary — a step that would mean removing the Fifth Avenue dam in Olympia and letting the body of water rise and fall with the tides — is likely to be the recommendation of the final environmental impact statement for the lake, the state Department of Enterprise Services announced Wednesday.

The preliminary announcement was made to two work groups largely comprised of local and county officials. DES manages state property and was tasked with producing and soliciting comment for a final EIS that will guide the long-term management of the lake.

Although originally set to be released in June, the final EIS has now been pushed back to October, DES spokeswoman Linda Kent said.

Although the north basin is most identified with Capitol Lake, the actual body of water to be managed stretches from Tumwater Falls to Budd Inlet.

Options the state considered were continuing to manage the lake, allowing it to revert to an estuary, or creating a hybrid of the two.

“DES received more than 850 comments on the Draft EIS, and we heard loud and clear that confirming a funding and governance approach for long-term maintenance of this waterbody is vital,” said Carrie Martin, DES project manager for the EIS, in a statement.

Martin said that without a preferred alternative identified — the estuary — funding and work group members cannot meet and make meaningful progress on next steps.