Wgu Gke Task 2

LAKE WASHINGTON
ECOSYSTEM
INT1
TASK 2

Lake Washington
Description
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Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake (Lake
Washington, 2013).
Lake Washington is approximately 33.82 square miles (Lake
Washington, 2013).
Lake Washington’s maximum depth is 214 feet (Lake
Washington, 2013).
Lake Washington has two main tributaries. The Cedar River and the Sammamish River (Lake Washington, 2013).
Lake Washington’s main outlet is the Ship Canal to Puget
Sound (Lake Washington, 2013).
(Jacobs, 2013)

LAKE WASHINGTON
LOCATION
• Lake Washington is located in King County
Washington (Lake Washington, 2013).
• Lake Washington is located between 4 cities;
Seattle to the West, Bellevue to the East,
Renton to the South,
and Kenmore to the
North.
• The map coordinates for Lake Washington are 47.62155, -122.25576 (Find latitude and longitude with Google Maps, 2013).
(WSDOT, 2013)

(Duane Raver, 2013)

LAKE WASHINGTON
BIOTIC COMPONENTS

DOZENS OF FISH SPECIES

DOZENS OF PLANT LIFE

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING:

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING:

• Coastal Cutthroat trout

• Rainbow Trout

• Coontail, Hornwort
• Brazilian Elodea

• Large Mouth Bass

• Common Elodea

• Small Mouth Bass

• Waterweed

• Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye Salmon

• Yellow Flag

• Yellow Perch

• Duck weed

• Black Crappie

• Purple Loofstrife

(Lake Washington Purple
Loofstrife, 2003)

LAKE WASHINGTON
BIOTIC COMPONENTS
MANY DIFFERENT INSECT SPECIES

MANY DIFFERENT MAMMALS

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING:

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING:
• Opossums (Seattle parks Department, 2001)

• Springtails (DeAngelis, 2004)

• Bats (Seattle parks Department, 2001)

• Mayflies (DeAngelis, 2004)

• Squirrels (Seattle parks Department, 2001)

• Dragonflies and Damselflies (DeAngelis, 2004)

• Mice (Seattle parks Department, 2001)

• Butterflies and Moths (DeAngelis, 2004)

• Weasels (Seattle parks Department, 2001)

• Caddisflies (DeAngelis, 2004)

• Raccoons (Seattle parks Department, 2001)
• Beaver (Seattle parks Department, 2001)
• Skunk (Seattle parks Department, 2001)
• Otter (Seattle parks Department, 2001)

(Otter, 2010)

LAKE WASHINGTON
BIOTIC COMPONENTS
LAKE WASHINGTON IS HOME TO MANY
DIFFERENT BIRDS INCLUDING:

• Eagles (Talbert, 2013)

• Falcons (Talbert, 2013)

• Hawks (Talbert, 2013)

• Loons (Talbert, 2013)

• Swans (Talbert, 2013)

• Grebes (Talbert, 2013)

• Geese (Talbert, 2013)

• Cormorants (Talbert, 2013)

• Owls (Talbert, 2013)

• Ducks (Talbert, 2013)

• Swifts (Talbert, 2013)

• pigeons (Talbert, 2013)

(Kevin Ebi, 2011)

LAKE WASHINGTON
ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
• LAKE WASHINGTON WATER ELEVATION IS BETWEEN 20 TO 22 FEET ON
AVERAGE (LAKE WASHINGTON, 2013).
• AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE IN SUMMER MONTHS IS 75˚(GREATER
SEATTLE DATA SHEET, 2013).
• AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE IN WINTER MONTHS IS 36˚ (GREATER SEATTLE
DATA SHEET, 2013).
• AVERAGE RAIN FALL ANNUALLY IS 36.2 INCHES (GREATER SEATTLE DATA
SHEET, 2013).

CURRENT HUMAN
IMPACTS
• HUMANS ACCOUNT FOR A DECLINE IN THE WATER QUALITY OF LAKE
WASHINGTON BECAUSE THEY DIVERTED TREATED SEWAGE INTO THE LAKE (LAKE
WASHINGTON, 2013).
)

• AFTER DISCOVERING THE IMPACT OF THE SEWAGE HUMANS IMPLEMENTED A
COMPREHENSIVE CLEAN UP PLAN THAT HAS RESULTED IN IMPROVEMENT TO THE
WATER QUALITY (LAKE WASHINGTON, 2013).

• URBAN DEVELOPMENT HAS THE BIGGEST IMPACT TO LAKE WASHINGTON. FOR
EXAMPLE, THE BUILDING OF BRIDGES ACROSS THE LAKE RESULTED IN A CHANGE
TO THE WATER DEPTH (LAKE WASHINGTON, 2013).

FUTURE HUMAN IMPACTS
• IF WE CONTINUE TO DIVERT THE SEWAGE AWAY FROM LAKE
WASHINGTON THE LAKE WATER SHOULD CONTINUE TO IMPROVE.
• IF URBAN SPRAWL CONTINUES THIS MAY RESULT IN A LOSS OF
SHORELINE AROUND LAKE WASHINGTON.

• AS HUMANS CONTINUE TO BUILD NEAR THE LAKE IT WILL RESULT IN A
LOSS TO THE BIOTIC COMPONENTS OF THE LAKE.
GUIDELINES
• STUDY THE BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC COMPONENTS OF LAKE
WASHINGTON AND MONITOR THE HEALTH OF THESE COMPONENTS.
• CONTINUE TO DIVERT WASTE AWAY FROM THE LAKE.
• SET ASIDE AREAS AS PROTECTED.
• EDUCATE PUBLIC ABOUT LIVING AND WORKING NEAR PROTECTED
AREAS.

(Jacobs, 2013)

REFERENCES
DEANGELIS, J. (2004, JANUARY 1). AQUATIC INSECTSÂ . AQUATIC FRESHWATER INSECTS, ENTOMOLOGY
REFERENCE BOOKS, DRAGONFLIES,
DAMSELFLIES, STONEFLIES, MAYFLIES, FLY FISHING. RETRIEVED
NOVEMBER 5, 2013, FROM HTTP://WWW.LIVINGWITHBUGS.COM/AQU_ENT.HTML
FIND LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE WITH GOOGLE MAPS. (N.D.). FIND LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE WITH
GOOGLE MAPS. RETRIEVED NOVEMBER 5, 2013, FROM HTTP://UNIVERSIMMEDIA.PAGESPERSOORANGE.FR/GEO/LOC.HTM
LAKE WASHINGTON. (2013, SEPTEMBER 25). DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND PARKS, KING
COUNTY, WASHINGTON. RETRIEVED NOVEMBER 5, 2013, FROM
HTTP://GREEN.KINGCOUNTY.GOV/LAKES/LAKEWASHINGTON.ASPX
LAKE WASHINGTON. (2013, SEPTEMBER 25). DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND PARKS, KING
COUNTY, WASHINGTON. RETRIEVED NOVEMBER 5, 2013, FROM
HTTP://GREEN.KINGCOUNTY.GOV/LAKES/LAKEWASHINGTON.ASPX
REFERENCES
CONTINUED
SEATTLE PARKS DEPARTMENT. (2001, JANUARY 1). SEATTLE.GOV. RETRIEVED NOVEMBER 5, 2013, FROM
HTTP://WWW.SEATTLE.GOV/PARKS/ARBORETUM/DOCS/APX-B.PDF

TALBERT, P. (N.D.). SEWARD PARK. SEWARD PARK. RETRIEVED NOVEMBER 5, 2013, FROM
HTTP://WWW.SEWARDPARK.ORG/BIRDSCK.HTML
THE GREATER SEATTLE DATASHEET. (2013, NOVEMBER 5). THE GREATER SEATTLE DATASHEET. RETRIEVED
NOVEMBER 5, 2013, FROM HTTP://WWW.SEATTLE.GOV/OIR/DATASHEET/QUALITY.HTM
WSDOT - I-90 CROSS-LAKE WASHINGTON TOLLING - PROJECT MAP. (N.D.). WSDOT - I-90 CROSS-LAKE
WASHINGTON TOLLING - PROJECT MAP. RETRIEVED NOVEMBER 5, 2013, FROM
HTTP://WWW.WSDOT.WA.GOV/PROJECTS/I90/CROSSLAKEWATOLLING/MAP.HTM