Ray Peters remembers learning how to swim as a child in Capitol Lake. The former Squaxin Island Tribal Executive Director remembers floating docks and a time when people were constantly in the water. But it was a short period of time — a few decades — before the lake was no longer usable.
He said the Squaxin Island Tribe's connection to the body of water stretches far beyond the short lifespan of the lake, which was created in 1951 when the Fifth Avenue Dam was put in.
Peters said the Steh-Chass, which is now known as Budd Inlet, at one time was a thriving place for shellfish and other sea life. It was a habitat for many types of fish, and a safe environment for salmon populations on their journey from headwaters to the ocean.
"At one time, those muddy flats out there in the Steh-Chass were white beaches," Peters said. "The environmental effect of this returning to an estuary is not only for salmon. As Billy Frank said, the health of salmon is really the barometer of our life as citizens."
The Olympian took a tour around Capitol Lake with Peters and other local officials, including U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland, Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne and other members of the Squaxin Island Tribe, to gain a better understanding of the scale of the project that will revert the lake to a restored Deschutes River estuary.
What we learned is there are deep, personal connections to the water in Olympia. That there's no other project like this in the country. And that restoring the estuary comes at a hefty price.
Putting the project into context
Tessa Gardner-Brown is a contractor and environmental planner with Floyd|Snider. She walked the group through the restoration project, which is expansive at 260 acres and two miles of waterway.
Gardner-Brown said the end goal of the project is to remove the 80-foot tide gate and 420-foot earth infill dam that connects west Olympia to downtown and restore tidal flow. The project also is designed to increase the city's climate resiliency and reduce economic impacts from flooding.
Olympia City Manager Jay Burney said with the construction of a new Fifth Avenue bridge and a restored estuary, there will be ample opportunities to increase commerce and draw more people to downtown.
"I think there's a ton of opportunities for pedestrian access here, even more so than what we have here," he said. "And I think there's even more opportunities to create those opportunities through a restoration of the estuary."
Burney said during extreme tidal events the city sees flooding on either side of the dam. During king tide events, several businesses near Capitol Lake deal with flooding and damage. He said having a more free-flowing estuary will dramatically decrease flooding events.
Mayor Payne said the lake is the epicenter of downtown. But he said Olympia is a community of environmentalists, and he can tell many people are happy about the steps being taken to restore the estuary.
"We understand that our partners, the Squaxin Island Tribe, how important it is to them to see it restored as an estuary," Payne said. "We know what it means for salmon habitat and to our ecosystem here in our community.
"And we also know that there are a number of community members who have expressed concern for some of the aesthetics."
He said he's heard from some folks who have a connection to the lake and don't want to see it disappear. They worry about what it will look and smell like, and how people will be able to access the water. But those are issues the city and its partners are looking to address, he said.
Part of making the water accessible involves sediment dredging and cleanup. Shawn Gilbertson with the Port of Olympia said the port is at the downward side of the project, but it's all tied together. He said the port is planning for the cleanup of contaminated sediments at Budd Inlet and throughout the peninsula.
"We're working with the state to identify what is there and how much, and therefore plan to remove it," he said. "So we're really embracing our partnership in the estuary project to make one nice cohesive project from the falls all the way down to Budd Inlet."
Gilbertson said the port is right at ground zero when it comes to sea level rise, and to protect the port, downtown Olympia, and the LOTT water treatment plant, much of the downtown area will need to be raised.
Matt Kennelly with LOTT said Capitol Lake is the largest source of oxygen depletion in the water in Budd Inlet. According to a study from the Department of Ecology, 62% of the inlet's oxygen depletion comes from the lake, which isn't good for fish or overall water quality.
Gardner-Brown said there are 72 stormwater outfalls into the Deschutes River that will be addressed as part of the project. She said that number of outfalls discharging untreated stormwater into the waterway is unheard of.
Gardner-Brown said once construction starts — the goal is for that to happen in 2027, since the project is currently in the design and permitting phase — it will kick off with a large dredging event to re-establish the historic main channel of the Deschutes River and its side channels.
"That's on the order of about 500,000 yards of dredging," she said. "And to put that into context, a dump truck is about 10 cubic yards. And so we think about 55,000 dump trucks that would have to leave the site."
But instead of moving the material off site, she said the plan is to use the sediment to build up shoreline habitat. She said this reduces project costs by tens of millions of dollars without having to rely on landfill, and there are ecological benefits.
Re-using the sediment will create a rich, ecologically diverse shoreline habitat, which is important for fish and other aquatic life that will return to the estuary. And it will be aesthetically pleasing, which is a must for such a high-profile urban project.
Gardner-Brown said Heritage Park, next to the dam and bridge, has been identified as a critical flooding pathway into downtown and it floods often already. With rising sea levels, it will only get worse. But removing the dam is estimated to drop flood elevations by 1 foot. Sediment will be recycled as buffers to protect downtown.
Rep. Marilyn Strickland asked if there are any projects around the country similar to this that the city could use as an example moving forward. But Gardner-Brown said it's truly unique, what with it being in the heart of downtown and how large of a restoration project it is.
Once the first round of dredging is completed, the state will be constructing a new Fifth Avenue Bridge, which will then be taken over by the City of Olympia. The old bridge will be no more, once the dam and tide gate are taken out. Maintenance dredging will have to be performed every 12 years to keep the waterway free flowing through the port.
The money and next steps
In 2024 numbers, the project in total is expected to cost more than $350 million. That could look more like $416 million by the time construction is underway.
Just for the design and permitting portion of the project, which is expected to extend through 2026, the project partners need roughly $26 million. About $13 million has been secured through the State Legislature's Climate Commitment Act and a NOAA Tribal Fish Passage grant.
The project is currently being evaluated for one federal and two state grants. And the state Department of Enterprise Services will submit a request to the Legislature for the 2025-27 budget.
The partners need the rest of the project money by as early as 2027 to kick off construction and dredging.
There is a meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, at the state Natural Resources Building and an online meeting at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 21 where people can learn more about the project and potential renderings of the estuary and new Fifth Avenue bridge. You can learn more about the meetings on the Department of Enterprise Services' estuary restoration website.
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