About
Delridge Wetland Park is a half-acre public park located at 23rd Avenue SW and SW Findlay Street in West Seattle. The park is a years-long initiative from DNDA to restore, expand, and maintain the existing wetland to improve water quality in Longfellow Creek. The park also includes a community gathering space, urban garden, and outdoor classroom for youth to learn environmental science. Our 4 goals are:
1
Reduce local flooding and improve water quality.
2
Enhance wetland habitat function.
3
Provide teaching gardens for students and local residents.
4
Increase partnerships to benefit the community.
Volunteer
Since the completion of construction in fall 2023, DNDA staff and volunteers continue maintenance to preserve the park’s wetland habitat and outdoor classroom space.
Volunteering at Delridge Wetland Park can be a fun, rewarding experience, allowing you to get outside, connect with the community, and preserve this essential wetland ecosystem.
Learn and Teach at the Outdoor Classroom
Visit the Public Park
Visit Delridge Wetland Park to explore the site’s urban garden, wetland habitat, and outdoor classroom.
What is a Wetland?
Wetlands are the link between land and water. They are a unique, productive ecosystem formed by the characteristics of their water, soils, and plants.
They need…
Water
that is present for a significant amount of time throughout the year.
- Wetlands aren’t always wet! Some, like Delridge Wetland Park, are only wet for part of the year. To be a wetland, an area has to be wet enough for long enough.
Soils
that stay saturated long enough to produce conditions with low oxygen.
- Wetlands have hydric soil. [Hydric soil forms under sustained periods of saturation, flooding, or ponding.] Hydric soils have low oxygen levels, appear pale due to mineral depletion, and are able to support plants that grow partially or fully submerged in water.
Plants
that can tolerate soil with low oxygen levels.
- Wetlands need plants that can survive being in saturated soil for a long time. While too much water will kill most plants, this is where hydrophytes [Hydrophytes are plants that evolved to grow partially or fully submerged in water, making wetlands a perfect habitat.] thrive!
Delridge Wetland Park Timeline
Local Students Shape the Future of the Wetland
Since its inception, students at Louisa Boren STEM K-8 School, located just a few blocks from the wetland, have been an essential part of the project’s success.
In 2017, third and fifth grade students presented their personal visions of the wetland at Louisa Boren K-8’s Project Based Learning night—aspects of which were included in the park’s final design. Subsequent Louisa Boren K-8 classes participated in restoring and redesigning the area to its natural state by removing invasive plants, planting native species, and creating art installations.
Today, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at Louisa Boren are part of DNDA’S Environmental S.T.E.A.M Lesson program—a hands-on, art-based environmental education program that covers a range of topics. Students use the outdoor classroom at the wetland to learn about water flow, stormwater pollution, wetlands, salmon, and various other topics related to local environmental issues.
Our Partners
The Delridge Wetland Park would not have been possible without our numerous funders who have worked with us over the years to complete this project:
Rose Foundation, King County Conservation Futures, King Conservation District, King County Flood Control District, King County Wastewater Treatment Division, the Garneau-Nicon Foundation, King County Parks, and the taxpayers of Washington State.
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