Ravenna Creek is a
stream
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
in the
Ravenna
Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...
and
Roosevelt neighborhoods of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
, whose present
daylighted length of nearly is entirely within the
Ravenna & Cowen Parks.
Ravenna Creek used to drain
Green Lake into
Lake Washington
Lake Washington () is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States.
It is the largest lake in King County, Washington, King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington (state), Was ...
's
Union Bay, but urban development and the lowering of the two lakes in 1911 and 1916 resulted in the disappearance of the
creekbed between Green Lake and
Cowen Park and between
Ravenna Park and Union Bay. Ravenna Creek's current source is a
wetland
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
in the northwest corner of Cowen Park, at NE 62nd Street and Brooklyn Avenue NE. It is also fed by springs throughout Ravenna Park, and is joined there by a second branch which begins near the intersection of NE 65th Street and 23rd Avenue NE. Until 2006, the creek ended at a
sewer grate where the park's trail system opened into a
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
field.
A
daylighting project completed in May 2006 disconnected the creek from the sewer system and extended its bed towards the southeast corner of Ravenna Park, at which point it enters a pipeline. This pipeline, which runs southward along 25th Avenue NE to the NE 45th Street viaduct, empties into
University Slough, thereby reconnecting Ravenna Creek to Lake Washington.
In 2008, a major sewage spill of of
raw sewage flooded the creek in an accident caused by King County utility crews working nearby.
Gallery
See also
*
Daylighting (streams)
Daylighting is the opening up and restoration of a previously buried watercourse, one which had at some point been diverted below ground. Typically, the rationale behind returning the riparian environment of a stream, wash, or river to a more n ...
*
Stream
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
*
Water resources
Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either Fresh water, freshwater from natural sources, or water produ ...
*
List of rivers of Washington (state)
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Washington.
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin. Respective tributaries are indented under each larger stream's name and are ordered downstream to upstream.
Strait of Georgia ...
*
Thornton Creek
*
Yesler Creek
References
{{authority control
Landforms of Seattle
Rivers of Washington (state)
Rivers of King County, Washington