Lake Ballinger
| Lake Ballinger | ||
|---|---|---|
| Geographical location | Snohomish County , Washington (USA) | |
| Tributaries | Hall Creek | |
| Drain | McAleer Creek | |
| Places on the shore | Mountlake Terrace ; Edmonds | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 47 ° 46 '53 " N , 122 ° 19' 22" W | |
|
||
| Altitude above sea level | 292 ft (89 m) | |
| surface | 107 acres | |
| length | 0.58 mi (0.9 km) | |
| width | 0.37 mi (0.6 km) | |
| Maximum depth | 35 ft (10.7 m) | |
| Middle deep | 15 ft (4.6 m) | |
|
particularities |
Edmount Island |
|
Lake Ballinger is a 107 acres (43 hectares) freshwater lake with a drainage area of 13 square kilometers in southern Snohomish County , Washington state . It is bordered by the towns of Mountlake Terrace to the east and Edmonds to the west. At the north end it is fed by Hall Creek; the McAleer Creek is its outflow to the east, in turn, the Lake Washington feeds.
The lake was formerly named McAleer Lake after the lumberjack Hugh McAleer, who was the previous owner of the lake and the surrounding land. It got its current name in 1901 after Richard A. Ballinger , who later became the US Secretary of the Interior , acquired it and named it after his father, Richard Ballinger.
description
Lake Ballinger is a natural lake that was formed from the meltwater of the Puget Sound lobe of the Cordilleras Ice Sheet . It is primarily fed by Hall Creek, but there is also an inflow of groundwater from nearby Echo Lake and an inflow from surface water runoff. It is just west of Interstate 5 at Mountlake Terrace and just north of the Snohomish- King Counties border , three miles north of Seattle . Located in the Puget Sound Lowlands (approximately 2.7 mi (4.3 km) east of Puget Sound itself), the surface is 292 ft (89 m) above sea level.
Lake Ballinger is broadly ovoid, oriented north-south with a fairly straight west bank and a broad bulge in the southeastern part, where it drains into McAleer Creek. The lake is 0.58 mi (0.9 km) long and 0.37 mi (0.6 km) wide at its widest point; it covers 107 acres (43 ha) including the island, of which the water surface currently occupies about 103 acres (42 ha). Its greatest depth is 35 ft (11 m).
Near the middle of the lake is Edmount Island, a 3-acre peat - bog island. During two past periods there existed populated areas that are now part of Ballinger Park in Mountlake Terrace.
history
Lake Ballinger was originally named Lake McAleer after Hugh McAleer, its first owner. McAleer was a lumberjack and owner of much of the land around the lake. A Bartholomew family had a home on the island from 1888 until Richard A. Ballinger acquired the land in 1901. Ballinger named the lake after his father, a civil war veteran. He used the lake to store logs that were to be rafted down McAleer Creek to Lake Washington before shipping. Ballinger began selling individual parcels along the west bank in 1914 to create residential areas.
In 1972, Lake Ballinger was found to be the poorest water quality lake in the Puget Sound area of 34 surveyed. One of the biggest problems with the water quality was the algae growth stimulated by phosphate input, which led to hypoxia . In the decades that followed, a number of steps were taken to meet the water quality goals. In 1980, sedimentation basins were built along Hall Creek to allow the entrained substances to settle. Two years later, a system for deep water aeration was installed in order to introduce atmospheric oxygen into the deeper layers of the lake and to eliminate the hypoxia. Mountlake Terrace got permission to add alum to the water in 1991 to lower nutrient levels.
On New Year's Day 1997, Lake Ballinger rose 6 ft (1.8 m) above normal and damaged several homes on the shore. The same flood caused a nearby sewer to overflow, the water of which drained into the lake. A similar event occurred in December 2007 when three houses were flooded and wastewater contamination from three leaks occurred.
On July 29, 2009, coals caused a fire on Edmount Island; A firefighter was injured during the extinguishing work. The peat smoldered for several days until the last spot was cleared on August 9th. The island will remain closed to the public indefinitely.
ecology
Lake Ballinger suffers from a number of environmental problems. The urban runoff carries oil, heavy metals and excessive nutrients into the water. The level of fecal coliform bacteria is increased by the presence of domestic animals and the large number of geese whose eggs are pierced to control the population and rot. The excess of nutrient inputs creates algae growth, which in turn leads to oxygen consumption in the deep zones of the lake when the dead algae sink and are broken down.
Lake Ballinger is a priority habitat for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, which requires special protection and management measures.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Lake Ballinger Fact Sheet ( Memento from September 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). City of Mountlake Terrace. June 15, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
- ↑ Lake Ballinger in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
- ↑ a b Lake Ballinger . Snohomish County Parks and Facilities. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
- ↑ a b c d Ballinger Park Boat and Fishing Access ( Memento from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). City of Mountlake Terrace. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
- ↑ Lake Ballinger . Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . July 1, 1993. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
- ^ A Salmon's Guide to Lake Forest Park ( Memento March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation. S. 9 December 2006. Accessed April 1, 2014.
- ↑ De Leon, John. Firefighters battling stubborn blaze on Lake Ballinger island . The Seattle Times. July 31, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
- ↑ Firefighters Wrap Up Operations on Lake Ballinger Island . MLTNews. 13 August. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
- ^ Lake Ballinger Island Closed Indefinitely . MLTNews. February 12, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
- ^ Critical Areas: Biological Features ( Memento from December 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). City of Mountlake Terrace. 2002. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ Priority Habitats and Species (PHS) . Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Retrieved May 23, 2018.