The Tacoma Public Library Community Archives Center partnered with Pacific Lutheran University to record a group oral history about the Clover Creek Watershed. Adela Ramos, PLU Environmental Studies Chair, Lauren Aloftis, PLU Archivist, and Dedria Barrow, Tacoma Public Library Oral Historian, organized the event at PLU on 18 April 2023.

Figure 1. Clover Creek from near Fredrickson to Lake Steilacoom (Wikipedia)

The 1.5-hour recording captured comments from Fred Tobiason, Richard McGinnis, Sheri Tonn Don Russell, and Al Schmauder, each of whom has a long experience with the watershed. They believed it was important to record their insights about the watershed. Each presenter discussed how the early settlers used the water in Clover Creek, how later development damaged the stream, and the current issues affecting stream flow, groundwater, and water contamination.

Al Schmauder shares the following takeaways from the recording.

• “Since the population of the watershed has increased, the health of the watershed has declined.
• Most citizens are not informed about what is happening and, accordingly, have a low level of interest in protecting the watershed’s health, including elected officials.
• The watershed is an orphan. No Tribe or governmental entity is responsible or accountable for maintaining the health of the watershed.”

Don Russell adds: “… given this sad state of affairs that the Chambers-Clover Watershed Council and its administrative support, Pierce County Surface Water Management, have not been effective at informing citizens about what is happening to our watershed and working collaboratively with citizens to identify and resolve our watershed’s freshwater quantity and quality problems.”

Listen to the Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed Council Oral History Interview here, https://northwestroom.tacomalibrary.org/index.php/chambers-clover-creek-watershed-council-oral-history-interview

For further research, see Historic Flows, Flow Problems, and Fish Presence in Clover
Creek—1924-1942: Interviews with Early Residents by Fred L. Tobiason (2003). https://www.piercecountywa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/70533/Chambers-Clover-Historic-Flows-