Operation Tate Creek
Donation protected
Over the last several weeks, the neighborhoods off of North Fork Rd SE and Ernies Grove have been battling mother nature to save homes and maintain a passable roadway.
Tate Creek starts way up in Hancock land and is fed by a couple of small lakes and creeks. It flows down through the Mountain Creek Tree Farm and several other private properties, and finally dumps into the North Fork of the Snoqualmie River. This little "stream" is bursting at the seams after the recent rainfall and flooding events in the Valley. The creek bed up stream is crumbling into the creek, bringing an unsurmountable amount of silt and debris down the creek bed, essentially displacing all the water and filling the creek bed with mud. Thus, the water has to find a new path - which is what we've experienced this past week with the flooding of the North Fork Rd and our neighbors properties. Unfortunately, we don't see an end any time soon - a neighbor flew their drone upstream, and was able to see the creek bed crumbling (bringing more silt and debris our way), and saw that there is another beaver dam under quite a bit of pressure. The fear is that if the beaver dam breaks we will absolutely not be able to keep up.
Once the flooding started, our neighbors immediately jumped into action by bringing their personal equipment to try and address the issues. They have spent countless hours digging out the creek, only to have it fill with silt by the time we all wake up the next morning - on the wet days, the silt fills the creek as soon as they dig it out. Our neighbors and their friends and employees are working before the sun comes up, and well after the sun goes down. At any given time there are between 5-10 heavy machinery digging and working to keep us (literally) above water. They are working for free and they are fueling this machinery from their own pockets. Plus, because they are here helping us, they are not working jobs that pay their bills. The County is not participating - this is 100% being managed and funded by our neighbors.
We are asking for your help to cover the expense of maintaining the creek. We want to be able to pay the men working and pay for the fuel to keep the machinery going. Any help is appreciated!
**for total transparency on where the $$ is going and how it is being used: I am withdrawing the funds when donated and together with Ken and Molly Kimble (landowners primarily affected by the creek flooding and who are driving the next steps), we have paid and will continue to pay, Littlejohn, Stakosa and any other resources who are giving their time and equipment to help us. We have used some of the funds to pay a Naturalist who hiked upstream to analyze the mudslide (which is the primary source of the silt we are seeing) and give us his assessment of the situation. We are also saving some of the funds to pay for a Hydrologist to come review our situation and offer solutions, as well as for anticipated legal fees. If anyone would like to see a breakdown of where the money has gone so far, please message me directly and I am happy to disclose. Thank you all!
Tate Creek starts way up in Hancock land and is fed by a couple of small lakes and creeks. It flows down through the Mountain Creek Tree Farm and several other private properties, and finally dumps into the North Fork of the Snoqualmie River. This little "stream" is bursting at the seams after the recent rainfall and flooding events in the Valley. The creek bed up stream is crumbling into the creek, bringing an unsurmountable amount of silt and debris down the creek bed, essentially displacing all the water and filling the creek bed with mud. Thus, the water has to find a new path - which is what we've experienced this past week with the flooding of the North Fork Rd and our neighbors properties. Unfortunately, we don't see an end any time soon - a neighbor flew their drone upstream, and was able to see the creek bed crumbling (bringing more silt and debris our way), and saw that there is another beaver dam under quite a bit of pressure. The fear is that if the beaver dam breaks we will absolutely not be able to keep up.
Once the flooding started, our neighbors immediately jumped into action by bringing their personal equipment to try and address the issues. They have spent countless hours digging out the creek, only to have it fill with silt by the time we all wake up the next morning - on the wet days, the silt fills the creek as soon as they dig it out. Our neighbors and their friends and employees are working before the sun comes up, and well after the sun goes down. At any given time there are between 5-10 heavy machinery digging and working to keep us (literally) above water. They are working for free and they are fueling this machinery from their own pockets. Plus, because they are here helping us, they are not working jobs that pay their bills. The County is not participating - this is 100% being managed and funded by our neighbors.
We are asking for your help to cover the expense of maintaining the creek. We want to be able to pay the men working and pay for the fuel to keep the machinery going. Any help is appreciated!
**for total transparency on where the $$ is going and how it is being used: I am withdrawing the funds when donated and together with Ken and Molly Kimble (landowners primarily affected by the creek flooding and who are driving the next steps), we have paid and will continue to pay, Littlejohn, Stakosa and any other resources who are giving their time and equipment to help us. We have used some of the funds to pay a Naturalist who hiked upstream to analyze the mudslide (which is the primary source of the silt we are seeing) and give us his assessment of the situation. We are also saving some of the funds to pay for a Hydrologist to come review our situation and offer solutions, as well as for anticipated legal fees. If anyone would like to see a breakdown of where the money has gone so far, please message me directly and I am happy to disclose. Thank you all!
Organizer
Heidi Hendricks
Organizer
Snoqualmie, WA