Tumwater Valley Golf Club today will become the first municipal golf course in Washington to earn Salmon-Safe certification, a designation that means the City of Tumwater is proactively and significantly improving the environmental health of the 200-acre course alongside the Deschutes River.
The certification announcement will be made at the Tumwater City Council meeting at 7:00 p.m. at Tumwater City Hall. David Burger, executive director of Stewardship Partners, leading the Salmon-Safe golf program in Washington, will present the certification.
The designation means that Tumwater Valley Golf Club passed Salmon-Safe’s comprehensive third-party evaluation of the course’s land and water management practices, is adopting practices that go above and beyond regulatory requirements, and is committed to further reducing its environmental impact over time. This includes minimizing impacts of golf course operations on sensitive aquatic and land resources; further restoring riverbanks, wetlands, and natural areas; and protecting downstream water quality through landscape management practices and responsible water use.
“The Tumwater Valley Golf Course provides many benefits to our residents, and enhancing salmon habitat is another opportunity we’re excited to undertake,” said Pete Kmet, City of Tumwater Mayor. “We’re proud to have earned a Salmon-Safe Certification and look forward to further enhancing our operations to benefit salmon.”
The science team found that Tumwater Valley Golf Club implements many practices in accordance with Salmon-Safe standards, particularly related to water use, landscape maintenance, and habitat preservation and restoration. The golf course uses approximately 43 million gallons of reclaimed wastewater from the LOTT Budd Inlet Treatment Plant to irrigate the course. Multiple habitat restoration projects have been implemented since 1993 along the Deschutes River with additional projects planned for the future. Tumwater exemplifies Salmon-Safe’s philosophy of encouraging low-impact practices that go beyond environmental regulations and committing to further reducing environmental impact.
“As the operator of Tumwater Valley, Washington’s first municipal golf course to achieve Salmon-Safe certification, the City of Tumwater can be a leader in reducing the impacts of our cities on Puget Sound,” said David Burger, executive director of Stewardship Partners. “We look forward to working closely with the City of Tumwater as it raises the bar for environmental management within the golf industry.”
To maintain this certification, Salmon-Safe has defined 10 conditions for the City of Tumwater through 2024, with various milestones along the way. The City’s Parks and Recreation staff will carry out the work associated with maintaining the certification, from landscape management and habitat development to innovative stormwater treatment projects.
