Welcome to Woodland Creek Community Park!

Have you ever wondered what happens to water after you use it and wash it down the sink? In cities, the water is cleaned and treated before being used again. This recycled water is known as reclaimed water. 

Reclaimed water is used to force more natural groundwater into Woodland Creek which increases the stream’s water level. This provides more habitat for Chinook, coho, chum, winter steelhead, and sockeye salmon!

Learn more about Woodland Creek Community Park!

 

Time to Explore

As you begin your stroll around Woodland Creek Community Park, start by venturing over the bridge spanning Woodland Creek. The sides of the stream are referred to as a riparian area. Sections of riparian area filled with trees, shrubs and other vegetation are called riparian buffers. Riparian buffers help filter pollutants and toxins commonly found in stormwater. 

Stream Team commonly hosts an MLK Day of Service event at this park and works to plant trees and other vegetation in the riparian area to help prevent toxins from entering Woodland Creek. Visit streamteam.info to find future volunteer events where you too can plant trees and help streams and salmon stay healthy!

 

Look at the Trees

Take the paths alongside Woodland Creek while searching for evidence for this mission. Notice the many small trees planted along both sides of the pathway. This park is home to many of the trees planted from Stream Team’s Holiday Trees for Streams program. This program allows individuals and families to purchase a living holiday tree and then return the tree to be planted. How many holiday trees can you find? If you were to purchase a holiday tree in the future, where would be a good spot to plant it so it helps create a healthy riparian buffer? 

 

Salmon

As you walk along the stream, think about the salmon that swim in Woodland Creek. They need clean, cold water, lots of dissolved oxygen, gravel to spawn, benthic macroinvertebrates (stream bugs) to eat, and places to hide (under fallen trees or large rocks). Do you think this stretch of Woodland Creek is a good home for a salmon? What could make it a better home for salmon?  

Did you know that salmon are a very important species to our oceans food web? They feed many larger mammals like orca whales, and some swim all the way to Alaska! Learn more about salmon!

Now search the stream for a blue-green pole in the middle of Woodland Creek that has a measuring stick on the front of it. This piece of scientific equipment is called a stream gauge. Stream gauges are used to measure the amount of water flowing through a stream. Remember, reclaimed water is added to increase the amount of water or stream flow in Woodland Creek!

 

More to Explore

Keep on the lookout for small mammals and birds along the way. Have you seen the spotted towhee? Look for towhees in thick shrubs, even in your backyard! Can you identify the males unique call? Did you know that towhees have red eyes?

Before you leave today, make sure you walk around the perimeter of the south side of the park to complete your mission. While Woodland Creek is a beautiful sight to behold, continue your search for the Groundwater Recharge Facility interpretive sign.

 

Congratulations!

You have completed your mission to find evidence of reclaimed water! Don’t forget to login to the Goose Chase App and submit your photo for this mission to collect your park specific sticker!