Masterminding the Sammamish Valley
Property owners petitioned county commissioners to form a drainage district, hoping to transform miles of 'sluggish' swamp into productive farmland.
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A number of property owners along the Sammamish River (or Squak Slough), which connects Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish, recently requested that the county commissioners inspect the valley to form a drainage district. The owners hope to bond the district to ditch the land and bring it under cultivation. The river is a sluggish stream winding for about 16 miles through swampy bottom land. If drained by a system of ditches and a straightened channel, a strip of rich land a mile wide could be made productive. As there is a ten-foot fall between the two lakes, the stream could flow more rapidly if confined. The Lake Shore road already runs through the valley, serving the towns of Bothell, Woodinville, and Redmond. Proponents suggest that drainage could even allow small steamers to travel between the lakes, connecting the region to Seattle by rail and water. The estimated cost of the work is $30,000.
“If it were drained by a system of ditches and the main channel straightened, a strip of rich land a mile in width its whole length would be made fit for cultivation.”
This project was part of the 'growth machine' era where the landscape was aggressively engineered for economic output. The transformation of the Sammamish Valley from wetlands to farmland remains a pivotal chapter in King County's environmental history.
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