At the June 15 Bothell City Council meeting, people applauded the city manager and council for the upcoming renovation of the downtown core by McMenamins.

The enthusiasm went out of the room when the council voted (4-3) to put Horse Creek in a pipe rather than daylight it. The mayor referred to the prospect of daylighting Horse Creek, as “political malpractice” and added that he would have never been in favor of the purchase of the school-district property if Horse Creek were going to see the light of day. Others disagreed. Three councilmembers and 10 citizens made well-reasoned and -researched arguments as to why economically and ecologically it makes good sense to daylight the creek. The city’s own staff and consultants recommend daylighting Horse Creek.

A daylighted Horse Creek could be a beautiful, unique jewel in the redevelopment of the downtown core. Horse Creek (renamed as McMenamins Creek?) would draw residents and visitors to it to relax, reflect and provide relief from the intense urban development around it. It could remind us of our history and our dependence on water and teach future generations that Bothell values our natural resources. Whether straight or meandering, Horse Creek could be designed to repair our fisheries.

The costs of an open channel are minimal in comparison to the maintenance costs of inspection, cleaning and replacement of pipe and baffles, which were excluded in the city’s estimates. The cost of either option assumes a $1.5 million federal grant, but an open channel is the only option that will win Bothell a grant since a 1,500-foot-long and 5-foot-long in diameter pipe is not fish friendly.

Basically, this pipe will reduce Horse Creek to a storm drain. This decision to put a much abused and once healthy fish-bearing stream in a pipe is shortsighted.

Cathy Ferbrache-Garrand