Totem Lake Flood Control Work Starting Friday

City and county crews will begin cleaning out vegetation and sediment Friday from a drainage channel and settling basin near Totem Lake Mall to ease minor winter flooding that has resulted in repeated closures of Totem Lake Boulevard.

Minor disruptions to traffic along the southbound lanes of the boulevard are expected, with some flagging operations likely. But one of the two southbound lanes should remain open most of the time, say city of Kirkland engineers.

The channel drains Totem Lake itself near the mall and is a tributary of Juanita Creek. Over the years, natural erosion and the growth of vegetation has choked the channel and settling basin, decreasing its capacity to carry off rain water and at times flooding one side of the adjacent boulevard.

“It’s been happening for years and has increased in intensity with lesser rain events,” explained city project engineer Noel Hupprich. “So we’re restoring the original grade of the channel to restore adequate flow.”

The work should take about two weeks. The project is expected to cost about $145,000, with most of the money coming from a county flood control fund.

Typical project work hours will Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Access for emergency vehicles to the nearby will be maintained.

Hupprich said the work will be done step-by-step, with a county biologist on hand to monitor potential impacts to any fish that might be present.

It is not believed the improved flow in the channel will significantly lower the level of Totem Lake, which is being examined for possible development as a park in the city’s Totem Lake Action Plan. Revitalizing the Totem Lake area has been a major focus in recent months of the City Council and the subject of Patch articles here and .

See the PDF file to the right for details, as well as a map of the work area.