Bellevue College earned its Salmon-Safe certification as of February 2025. As salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest are in decline, some species are in danger of future extinction due to a number of threats, including environmental contaminants. The College is honing in on effective stormwater management practices and reducing toxic runoff into our local watersheds to safeguard these vital fish.
Here are a few choice paragraphs from the report:
The main campus of Bellevue College is almost completely within the Richards Creek basin. Richards Creek is a southern tributary to Kelsey Creek, which ultimately flows to Lake Washington via Mercer Slough. The creeks within the basin, including East Creek, are west of Bellevue College. East Creek comes within a quarter-mile of the western edge of campus. Salmonids known to occur within the Richards Creek basin include Chinook, coho, and sockeye salmon, and cutthroat trout.
While some of the stormwater leaving campus is unmanaged for both water quality and quantity, particularly in the oldest areas of campus, there are many locations where stormwater may be transported—either by sheet flow or piping—into vegetated areas. A stormwater pond located in the southeastern corner of the campus captures stormwater draining from several large surface parking lots in that part of campus, which are currently underutilized. More recently constructed buildings make liberal use of green stormwater infrastructure in the form of rain gardens or swales. For example, the new residence hall, which has achieved LEED Platinum certification, is surrounded by large rain gardens. A large detention vault located under the soccer field, which was constructed in 2017 in the northwest corner of campus, captures not only stormwater from the field, but also stormwater from other upgradient areas of the campus. A large green roof on the T building also provides stormwater management functions for that building. Further work on evaluating additional opportunities for improving the stormwater system on campus is warranted, as described below in the Certification Conditions section.
Last Updated April 20, 2026