South Central Puget Sound
The South Central Action Area is the most urbanized section of Puget Sound, and includes Seattle, Bellevue, and Tacoma. However, outside of the cities much of the land is undeveloped, and approximately 77 percent of the entire action area is agricultural land or wilderness. The Green-Duwamish and Cedar-Sammamish river systems carry snow melt from the Cascades to Lake Washington and Puget Sound, and glacial melt from Mt. Rainier feeds the Puyallup and White rivers. Rainfall averages 40 inches per year in lowland areas.
Marine water circulation is better in winter than in summer, due to wind and cooler temperatures. Solar heating and freshwater input from rivers can cause stratification in the basin during the warmer months. The South Central Sound is a hub of shipping and other industry such as logging, fishing, and mining, as well as passenger ferry traffic, research boats, and recreational vessels. Chinook salmon spawn in many of the rivers and lakes, and other salmon populations are strongly represented in the White River, Issaquah Creek, and the Cedar and Green rivers. Community efforts are strongly focused on salmon recovery and restoration, both in urban waters and the park lands and wilderness nearby.
Sources:
