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420:), an invasive species the size of a grain of rice, was discovered in Capitol Lake. The lake has been closed to all public use, including boating and other recreation, since 2009. A heavy cold snap in 2013, combined with a drawdown in water level in preparation, was roughly estimated to have killed 40–60% of the mudsnail population.
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State
Department of Ecology released a report in 2012 that studied several areas of concern for the Deschutes River, Capitol Lake, and Budd Inlet, including bacterial and oxygen levels, sediment, and temperature. A 2022 report noted an accumulation of an additional 35,000 cubic yards of sediment per year.
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A shantytown known as "Little
Hollywood" developed along the shores of the Deschutes River, at the foot of the Capitol Campus. The people living in the shanties dumped raw human waste and trash directly into the Deschutes River. This became an eyesore (July 7, 1948, The Daily Olympian) and probably
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After a 25-year hiatus, in 2011 the State
Legislature appropriated $ 200,000 in order to seek permits to reimplement maintenance dredging in order to retain and improve Capitol Lake as part of the historic Wilder and White design of the State Capitol Campus during its centennial year. The Washington
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The
Capitol Group of buildings was constructed over several years from 1913 to 1940, and the State Capitol Committee then turned to the task of creating the Wilder and White reflecting Capitol Lake. In 1937, the state began purchasing the privately owned tidelands around the Capitol Campus. In 1941,
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In response to the 2009 report, CLAMP noted that an invasive species, the New
Zealand Mud Snail found within the lake, are recorded at such high quantities that their potential to cause "unpredictable environmental degradation" suggests that their release into the Southern region of the Puget Sound
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Resistance from community members and government officials is based on concerns that the
Capitol Lake restoration would remove a local landmark and that the loss of the dam would remove a flood control mechanism for the area. Along with budgetary concerns, additional issues cited are the potential
366:
In 2009, after 12 years of intensive and independently verified scientific study, members of the
Capitol Lake Adaptive Management Plan (CLAMP) Steering Committee reached a consensus regarding the Department of Natural Resource's efforts to remove the 5th Avenue Dam and restore Deschutes Estuary. A
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was created with the Arc of
Statehood from the Western Washington Inlet to the Eastern Washington Butte along the eastern edge of Capitol Lake and the North Campus trail and Law Enforcement Memorial with views across Capitol Lake to the borrowed landscapes of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.
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In 1915, the State
Capitol Commission rejected a plan by former Olympia Mayor and state legislator P.H. Carlyon to replace Olympia's bridge to the westside with a dam and locks. That plan would have created a lake very much like the present Capitol Lake. Because of opposition from upriver Tumwater
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In 2023, the state legislature authorized $ 7 million to the DES to officially begin efforts to restore the area to an estuary. The project is estimated to cost between $ 137 million to $ 247 million and the restoration may possibly provide an increase of salmon
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opposition from
Tumwater was finally overcome during a special town meeting. In 1947, due in large part by intense lobbying by Thurston County legislators, the state legislature approved funding for the construction of the dam in order to create Capitol Lake.
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The first proposal for creating Capitol Lake came when Leopold Schmidt of the Olympia Brewing Company proposed in 1895 to " mak(e) a fresh water lake of it by building a dam and locks near the Westside (Olympia) bridge."
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who inhabited the original estuary for millennium. After settlement in the mid-19th century, the basin received much of the wastewater and other effluent outflow from "uptown" Olympia. In the 1890s the
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Capitol Lake was created in 1951 when the dam, known as the Fifth Avenue Dam, was completed consistent with the Wilder and White plan. This allowed for the retention of the outflow from the
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In 1911, the State Capitol Commission held a nationwide competition for the design of the State Capitol Campus. The winning architects, Wilder and White, submitted a revolutionary
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plan which included creating a body of water to reflect the Capitol Group of buildings on the bluff by installing a tidelock at the mouth of the Deschutes River.
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Due to an increase in bacterial levels, swimming in the lake was banned beginning in the 1980s. In the 1990s and 2000s, the North Capitol Campus
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did considerable damage to the 4th Avenue Bridge just north of the lake, as well as to the Deschutes Parkway on the west side of the lake.
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305:. The lake as envisioned by Olmsted would have been created with a north to south running berm, as opposed to an east to west running dam.
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a health hazard. Damming the Deschutes River destroyed the estuary, but also prevented the urban blight of the shantytown from recurring.
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businesses, such as the Olympia Brewing Company and the Olympia Power and Light Company, that plan was not approved.
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finalized report, in agreement with other government departments, several Thurston County Commissioners, and the
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was controlled using herbicide in 2004. Later efforts relied on scuba divers to remove this invasive plant.
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was a productive shellfish gathering area for native peoples. The area was of specific value to the
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439:, centered on the lake, is held annually in July. The trail around the lake is 1.5 miles long.
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loss of economic activity on the waterfront and doubts that the water quality would improve.
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359:. The lake was dredged periodically to keep it from filling in, potentially offsetting
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As Capitol Lake replaced the Deschutes River estuary the area underwent a high rate of
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476:"Olympia's Capitol Lake restoration: Pricey 'boondoggle' or environmental win?"
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As of 2023, no boating or swimming activities are allowed within the lake.
371:, officially recommended the Capitol Lake Basin be returned to an estuary.
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located a station and switching yard on the eastern shore of the basin.
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A more limited lake was also part of the original landscape design by
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Prior to American settlement, the tidal basin at the southern tip of
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is a 3 kilometer (1.9 mile) long, 260-acre (1.1 km) artificial
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568:"History of Capitol Lake, by WA State Dept. of Enterprise Services"
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Original Capitol Planners Called For Free Flowing Deschutes River
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The myth of connection between Wilder and White and Capitol Lake
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775:"Cold estimated to have killed half of snails in Capitol Lake"
16:
Artificially created body of water at Washington State Capitol
752:"Freeze could help kill Capitol Lake's mudsnail population"
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Capitol Lake Improvement and Protection Association
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846:Washington State Department of Enterprise Services
248:Washington State Department of Enterprise Services
678:"Capitol Lake. Steering Committee Recommendation"
900:Information from Dept. of General Administration
501:"History of the Olympia Brewing Co. of Tumwater"
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672:
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8:
842:"Scuba divers pull weed from Capitol Lake"
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250:(DES) manages the lake, as part of The
826:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
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612:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
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331:Railroad bridge crossing Capitol Lake.
925:Artificial lakes of the United States
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935:Lakes of Thurston County, Washington
474:Withycombe, Claire (July 15, 2023).
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627:Photos of earthquake damage from UW
910:Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team
773:Shannon, Brad (26 December 2013).
14:
750:Shannon, Brad (4 December 2013).
711:Department of Enterprise Services
378:Looking north along Capitol Lake.
299:Washington State Capitol building
242:, just downstream from where the
930:Geography of Olympia, Washington
404:should be avoided at all costs.
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40:
27:
731:Dodge, John (19 October 2010).
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895:Information from Squaxin Tribe
646:"Water Quality Study Findings"
246:meet the artificial lake. The
1:
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733:"Snail seclusion successful"
545:, Olympia Historical Society
526:September 21, 2011, at the
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632:December 27, 2005, at the
112:47.0332806°N 122.9087722°W
707:"Capitol Lake Management"
345:2001 Nisqually earthquake
324:to cover the tide flats.
273:Northern Pacific Railroad
35:
26:
418:Potamopyrgus antipodarum
252:Washington State Capitol
238:sits on Capitol Lake in
117:47.0332806; -122.9087722
284:City Beautiful movement
191:260 acres (1.1 km)
183:3 km (1.9 mi)
530:, Squaxin Island Tribe
391:within the watershed.
379:
332:
555:Capitol Lake Timeline
414:New Zealand mud snail
377:
330:
848:. September 24, 2012
785:on 27 December 2013.
762:on 27 December 2013.
369:Squaxin Island Tribe
288:American Renaissance
268:Squaxin Island Tribe
557:, Save Capitol Lake
351:Estuary Restoration
232:Olympia, Washington
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423:An infestation of
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869:official website.
480:The Seattle Times
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802:. Archived from
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425:Eurasian milfoil
408:Invasive Species
222:at the mouth of
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164:Primary outflows
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322:Deschutes River
297:to reflect the
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236:Olympia Brewery
224:Deschutes River
156:Deschutes River
150:Primary inflows
134:Artificial lake
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889:External links
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653:ecology.wa.gov
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103:122°54′31.58″W
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412:In 2009, the
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343:The February
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83:United States
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879:Capitol Lake
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852:February 13,
850:. Retrieved
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811:. Retrieved
804:the original
791:
783:the original
779:The Olympian
778:
768:
760:the original
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737:The Olympian
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714:. Retrieved
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295:John Olmsted
292:
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216:Capitol Lake
215:
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188:Surface area
100:47°1′59.81″N
55:Capitol Lake
22:Capitol Lake
655:. June 2012
303:Puget Sound
200:Settlements
180:Max. length
136:, Formerly
115: /
90:Coordinates
919:Categories
813:2015-01-13
599:2019-11-20
485:August 10,
446:References
431:Recreation
395:Opposition
264:Budd Inlet
170:Budd Inlet
79:Washington
867:Lake Fair
357:siltation
881:website.
822:cite web
630:Archived
608:cite web
524:Archived
437:Lakefair
435:Capital
389:spawning
254:Campus.
240:Tumwater
228:Tumwater
204:Tumwater
138:wetlands
75:Tumwater
67:Location
691:18 June
659:18 June
573:18 June
506:18 June
258:History
208:Olympia
142:estuary
71:Olympia
685:wa.gov
234:. The
807:(PDF)
800:(PDF)
716:6 Aug
681:(PDF)
649:(PDF)
854:2017
828:link
718:2015
693:2023
661:2023
614:link
575:2023
508:2023
487:2023
286:and
220:lake
140:and
129:Type
301:on
226:in
921::
844:.
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820:{{
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683:.
669:^
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606:{{
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416:(
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
