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The Lake Washington Ship Canal is a canal that runs through the city of Seattle and connects the fresh water body of Lake Washington to the salt water inland sea of Puget Sound. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks accommodate the approximately 20-foot (6.1 m) difference in water level between Lake Washington and the sound.
Puget Sound's shoreline is 1,332 miles (2,144 km) long, encompassing a water area of 1,020 square miles (2,600 km 2) and a total volume of 26.5 cubic miles (110 km 3) at mean high water. The average volume of water flowing in and out of Puget Sound during each tide is 1.26 cubic miles (5.3 km 3).
To maintain the water level of the fresh water Lake Washington and Lake Union at 20–22 feet (6.1–6.7 m) above sea level, or more specifically, 20.6 ft (6.3 m) above Puget Sound's mean low tide. [2]: 2 [3] [5]: 8 To prevent the mixing of sea water from Puget Sound with the fresh water of the lakes (saltwater intrusion). [2]: 2–3
The Cedar River's water, via Lake Washington, still ultimately flowed into the Black River, Duwamish River, and into Elliott Bay. [7] In 1916 the Lake Washington Ship Canal's Montlake Cut was finished, connecting Lake Washington and Lake Union. The water level of Lake Washington dropped 8.8 feet (2.7 m), to the level of Lake Union.
Citizen concern led to the creation of a system that diverted the treatment-plant effluents into nearby Puget Sound, where tidal flushing would mix them with open-ocean water. The diversion was completed in 1968, and the lake responded quickly. The algal blooms diminished, the water regained its clarity, and by 1975, recovery was complete.
Hood Canal is a fjord-like body of water that lies west of Admiralty Inlet in Washington state that many people consider to be the western lobe and one of the four main basins of Puget Sound. [1] [2] [3] It is one of the minor bodies of water that constitute the Salish Sea.
It was created in 1911 by Puget Sound Power & Light and operated for hydroelectric power until it ceased power production in 2004. The reservoir was sold to the Cascade Water Alliance, a collective of municipalities in King County, to provide drinking water to 350,000 residents and 20,000 businesses.
As of 2010 there are six levels in the hierarchy, represented by hydrologic unit codes from 2 to 12 digits long, called regions, subregions, basins, subbasins, watersheds, and subwatersheds. The table below describes the system's hydrologic unit levels and their characteristics, along with example names and codes. [4]