June 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 56

J.A. Brennan Associates

The renovation of Juanita
Beach Park addresses
multiple enviornmental
issues such as parking lot
drainage, resident Canada
geese, and high sediment
loads in Juanita Creek.

addressing the 30-acre park's water quality problems: improving the parking lot drainage, minimizing the Canadian geese
presence, and building a marsh at the mouth of Juanita Creek to
catch high sediment loads. The parking lot was shifted farther
away from the lake and a series of biofiltration swales now direct the water into the soil and vegetation, where it slowly filters
into the lake or groundwater rather than being directly piped
onto the swimming beach. Together, the swales form an aesthetically pleasing circular amphitheater-like area which Brennan hopes will become a community commons area when the
park reopens this month.
The second major issue for the park includes flocks of resident Canada geese walking up from the lake and onto the lawn
to eat the grass, adding to the water's high bacteria counts. A
new concrete seawall will now block the view of the lawn from
the water. A thicker canopy of trees also will help block the view
of the grass from the air, while some parts of the lawn area were
eliminated and converted into wetlands.
" The grass is like a beacon for them, " Brennan chuckles. " If
they can't see the grass as well from the lake, they're less apt to
move up into those areas. "
Juanita Creek, which runs along one edge of the park, is
a salmon-bearing creek. A new high-flow marsh will capture
some the sediment load and filter the water, especially on rainy
summer days. The marsh includes a side channel to provide
more rearing habitat for juvenile salmon and trout, while an

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interpretive panel from an earlier phase of the project tells the
story of the salmon in the creek.
Other features include a U-shaped boardwalk over the water
and eventually will include small boat rentals and a new craftsman-style bathhouse that will echo the park's pre-World War II
resort heritage. The project is being funded by a grant from the
State of Washington, with long term maintenance provided by
a slight property tax increase approved by Kirkland voters in
2002 when the city acquired the park from King County. Brennan says that community involvement was a key element in the
park's renovations, with five citizen advisory meetings held to
discuss the project.
" It's a fairly green community interested in environmental
quality and they also felt that they wanted to create something
that was an ecologically sustainable kind of waterfront park.
There were no arguments from the community-they were like
'Yeah, let's clean up this water and deal with these geese.' The
salmon is an icon of the Pacific Northwest and people really
wanted to see that enhanced. "
" This won't solve all the problems-I think it will definitely
still have challenges to deal with, with all of the material coming down the creek, " Brennan continues. " But I think it will do
a lot to reduce the number of closures and enhance the water
quality while being a really nice upgrade to the park. "

Elizabeth Beard is managing editor of Parks & Recreation.

June 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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