Restore Salmon and Clean Water to Clover Creek!

Pierce County Council and Planning Commission

The Clover-Chambers Creek Watershed was once a healthy system, home to five unique populations of salmon and a year-round flow. The ecosystem here sustained people and wildlife for a millennia. Colonization, pollution, and unchecked draining and development have caused immense damage to the main stem of Clover Creek and our whole system, and these consequences have flowed downstream. Clover Creek is the most polluted stream in the county, the salmon have gone extinct, and our groundwater has been drained below the level of the stream, causing vast sections to go dry. Pollution feeds toxic algae blooms in our watershed’s lakes, and huge amounts of impervious surfaces have damaged our natural recharge systems. As residents of the watershed and allies, we seek the restoration of our water systems through the following actions:

Free the Water
We urge the immediate removal of all dams that block healthy water flow and fish
passage, including:
• The dam at the mouth of Chambers Creek,
blocking the connection to Puget Sound
• The dam created by the railroad laid across the
creek above Naches Trail Preserve
• Illegal dams and alterations the county has
failed to enforce throughout the watershed
We implore the county to take action to address the
following restrictions on healthy creek flows:
• Waller Road, and all intersecting roads that
“pinch” the flow of the creek need to be raised.
• Beaver dams and berms that restrict creek outflow to Pacific Avenue
We request that the county enforce a minimum groundwater level that ensures healthy
creek flows by:
• Enacting steeper, progressive fines on violators
• Correcting stormwater infrastructure to flow into the watershed, rather than
directly to Puget Sound.

Make the Big Developers and Polluters Pay
• Require large developments to retrofit stormwater systems from retention ponds to
raingardens, managed wetlands or redesigned infiltration systems that soak up nutrient
pollution before it reaches the creek or groundwater in the next 5 years.
• Tax large corporations like Boeing and Amazon to pay for a general restoration
fund to be used for:
• Retrofit stormwater infrastructure, Bridge replacement, Restoration funding,
Staffing , Land acquisition and 6PPD Remediation
• To further fund restoration, pass a .5% damage tax on the worst polluters of the
watershed including:
• Plastic bottled water, Tires, Herbicides, Pesticides, Lawn Fertilizers, Styrofoam
Containers, For-profit water purveyors
• Hold the Department of Defense accountable for cleaning up PFAS
contamination in the watershed

Defend the Right to Water
We must secure the right to water for current residents and future generations by:
• Opposing the privatization of water and creating a public utility to collectively
manage our shared resource.
• Creating a shared water management plan with all public utilities in the
watershed, while phasing out the for-profit utilities through whatever tools are
available.

Restore the Right to Return for Salmon
We urge Pierce County to create a:
• Department of Natural Resources
• comprehensive, funded and staffed salmon restoration action plan for the entire
watershed to facilitate the provisions above.
• outreach program for landowners and communities living on the creek many
bodies of water
• management plan for county-owned properties in the watershed, particularly
those on creeks
• First right of first refusal program for properties along the creek
• Better staffed invasive species management program

To: Pierce County Council and Planning Commission
From: [Your Name]

As residents of the Clover-Chambers watershed and allies, we seek the restoration of our water systems through the following actions:

Free the Water
We urge the immediate removal of all dams that block healthy water flow and fish
passage, including:
• The dam at the mouth of Chambers Creek,
blocking the connection to Puget Sound
• The dam created by the railroad laid across the
creek above Naches Trail Preserve
• Illegal dams and alterations the county has
failed to enforce throughout the watershed

We implore the county to take action to address the
following restrictions on healthy creek flows:
• Waller Road, and all intersecting roads that
“pinch” the flow of the creek need to be raised.
• Beaver dams and berms that restrict creek outflow to Pacific Avenue

We request that the county enforce a minimum groundwater level that ensures healthy
creek flows by:
• Enacting steeper, progressive fines on violators
• Correcting stormwater infrastructure to flow into the watershed, rather than
directly to Puget Sound.

Make the Big Developers and Polluters Pay
Require large developments to retrofit stormwater systems from retention ponds to
raingardens, managed wetlands or redesigned infiltration systems that soak up nutrient pollution before it reaches the creek or groundwater in the next 5 years.
• Tax large corporations like Boeing and Amazon to pay for a general restoration
fund to be used for:
• Retrofit stormwater infrastructure, Bridge replacement, Restoration funding,
Staffing , Land acquisition and 6PPD Remediation
• To further fund restoration, pass a .5% damage tax on the worst polluters of the
watershed including:
• Plastic bottled water, Tires, Herbicides, Pesticides, Lawn Fertilizers, Styrofoam
Containers, For-profit water purveyors
• Hold the Department of Defense accountable for cleaning up PFAS
contamination in the watershed

Defend the Right to Water
We must secure the right to water for current residents and future generations by:
• Opposing the privatization of water and creating a public utility to collectively
manage our shared resource.
• Creating a shared water management plan with all public utilities in the
watershed, while phasing out the for-profit utilities through whatever tools are
available.

Restore the Right to Return for Salmon
We urge Pierce County to create a:
• Department of Natural Resources
• comprehensive, funded and staffed salmon restoration action plan for the entire
watershed to facilitate the provisions above.
• outreach program for landowners and communities living on the creek many
bodies of water
• management plan for county-owned properties in the watershed, particularly
those on creeks
• First right of first refusal program for properties along the creek
• Better staffed invasive species management program