As a park advocacy group of North Highline neighbors who live near Hicks Lake, Friends of Hicks Lake/Lakewood Park (FOHL) is dismayed that a testing process completed by the University of Washington this past summer identified E. Coli pollution in our lake.

This report, entitled Fecal Coliform Pollution Testing - North Creek and Hicks Lake, BIS293 - Coastlines and Estuaries, completed by the University of Washington, Bothell Campus, used eight samples from Hicks Lake. These samples all showed consistently high levels of Total Coliform and Fecal Coliform (E. coli) in the water. According to the report, the levels of these pathogens are up to 200 times the acceptable state standard for this body of water.

These potentially fatal bacteria are considered non-point pollutions, meaning that they come from animal feces, malfunctioning septic systems nearby, and agricultural run-off. Friends of Hicks Lake is concerned that part of the problem is the large school playfield south of the lake. But FOHL also recognizes that there are 110 homes on septic systems in Top Hat/Greenbridge area, just above the lake in the Hicks Lake watershed.

We are concerned that these septic systems are contaminating the aquifer and waters that partially feed Hicks Lake. We are asking for a public hearing on the quality of water in Hicks Lake, and ask that the Southwest Suburban Sewer District and King County participate in this public hearing to assist us in finding a solution that will make these waters safe for swimmers again, as they were in the 1970s.

Dick Thurnau

Mark Ufkes

Friends of Hicks Lake/

Lakewood Park