Kingston North Kitsap Rotary Club supports its community with ongoing grants to local organizations. One such operation is Stillwaters Environmental Center in Kingston. Stillwaters is an environmental science and education center in the Carpenter Creek watershed. Under the direction of Stillwaters Program Director Melissa Fleming, community citizens are joined by interns and graduate students from local universities in conducting field research and monitoring and preserving the estuary, salt marsh, and the watershed.
Dr. Fleming spoke to KNK Rotarians at their Apr 7 Zoom meeting. She explained the impact of replacing small culverts on West and South Kingston roads in recent years. Those small culverts, she said, restricted young salmon going out to the ocean to become adults. Estuaries help the salmon adjust from fresh to salt water in the journey to the sea.
Since 2001 Stillwaters has done monthly stream water quality monitoring as Carpenter Creek empties from Carpenter Lake to Puget Sound. Additionally, Stillwaters volunteers accomplish bird and vegetation surveys. Interestingly, they have noted more herons and bald eagles in the estuary, concluding it is becoming a richer feeding ground for the birds.