Story and photo by Doug Petrowski
Following a Monday, Jan. 7 visit to hear about economic development in the city, Second District Congressman Rick Larsen returned to Mountlake Terrace Wednesday for a briefing on past, present and future efforts to control water flow and flooding in the Lake Ballinger watershed.
Larsen, D-Everett, heard a 30-minute presentation from Mountlake Terrace city officials on work to remove or update culverts along Hall and McAleer Creeks, then took a short tour of the two streams that flow into and out of Lake Ballinger.
The presentation centered around improvements made by the City of Mountlake Terrace in improve stream flow in Hall Creek just north of Lake Ballinger in 2011, work to replace culverts servicing McAleer Creek on the Nile Golf Course scheduled for this summer, and the need to update McAleer Creek culverts beneath I-5 at 244th/205th Street. The current culverts in McAleer Creek are being blamed for occasional flooding of Lake Ballinger as officials feel they restrict the flow of water out of the lake.
The city governments of Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds and Lake Forest Park are founding members of the Lake Ballinger/McAleer Creek Forum, an intergovernmental group which focuses on the Lake Ballinger watershed. The forum meets monthly and is currently chaired by Mountlake Terrace Mayor Jerry Smith.
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