Written by Mikayla Finnerty and Mugdha Bhatnagar.
EVERETT, JULY 31: Today Paine Field Airport celebrated the 25th anniversary of Narbeck Wetland Sanctuary, the first wetland mitigation bank in Washington State.
Snohomish County, which owns and operates Paine Field Airport, needed to expand safety runways. To do so, they had to work over several small wetlands. To preserve the wetland ecosystem, they created 60 acres of new wetlands, Public Information Officer, Kristin Banfield said.
Creating new wetlands in advance of impacting other wetlands is called “mitigation banking.”
“This was a cutting edge, collaborative project,” Executive Dave Somers said, “the community has ownership of this, it is why it was so successful they were the heart.”
Somers and U.S. Representative Rick Larsen were on the Snohomish County City Council when the wetland mitigation bank was proposed and approved.
“Wetlands are critical infrastructure,” Larsen said. Wetlands help cleanse and slow runoff from urbanized areas, while providing habitat for fish and wildlife, according to the Paine Field website.
The Narbeck Wetland Sanctuary itself is 50 acres and is located at 7007 Seaway Blvd. in Everett, across the road from the Boeing facility. It officially opened July 31, 1999, as a recreational and educational public park. More than 300 volunteers and Boeing employees worked to bring the wetlands to fruition.
The mitigation process had to ensure water pathways to the Puget Sound, Banfield said.
Swansen Wetland was also created during the same time, providing 13 acres of land at the south end of Paine Field. The wetland is home to water lilies, cattails and birds.
The Friends of Narbeck Wetland Sanctuary, a local nonprofit, has maintained the sanctuary since it opened.
In September 2008, Snohomish County received top honors from the Washington State Department of Ecology for both of its approved wetland mitigation banks, the first in the state to receive full local, state and federal accreditation, according to the Snohomish County website.
In the state of Washington there are currently 20 wetland mitigation banks, Larsen said.
Bill Lewallen, a member of the original Narbeck planning team, said that 25 years ago mitigation banks were controversial, due to studies of banks out of King County not performing to standards.
“How we do things is just as important as what we do,” Lewallen said.
Narbeck Wetlands includes two walking trails, one is a loop and the other is a 1.5-mile interpretive trail. There are educational signs and a self-guided tour for outdoor enthusiasts.
