Cemetery Pond wetland in October 2022. Photo courtesy of King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks.

The East Renton community went to the ballot box three years ago and sent a message: Through the Participatory Budgeting program, it wanted to direct public funds to protect and restore the Cemetery Pond Open Space area so the county could purchase more land .

Two years later, community members again voted to fund improvements in this critical natural space in unincorporated King County, this time for interpretative signage and trail improvements.

It should come as no surprise that this community twice chose efforts to preserve and restore the Cemetery Pond Wetland area, which is located in the May Creek Basin. This is a spot where Chinook salmon begin their lives and return to spawn, although flooding, pollution, degraded habitat and other problems have endangered this natural ecosystem.

“It’s some of the last open land around here,” said Debi Eberle, longtime resident who represented her community on the steering committees for both Participatory Budgeting campaigns. “It’s just really important to keep a natural element in every community.”

(Watch the 2022 video about the project)

A video about the Cemetery Pond Wetland Protection and Restoration being the first to receive funding as part of Participatory Budgeting in 2022.

Eberle, her husband Pete and others have advocated to preserve and restore this natural area for nearly 20 years. They say it was the Department of Local Services’ Participatory Budgeting process – which empowers communities to choose how public funds are spent in their neighborhoods – that helped shine a new and important light on the wetland’s importance.

“Without Participatory Budgeting, you’re not getting that added ‘ooomph’ into the community,” Eberle said.

What voters chose

The East Renton community twice voted to support efforts to protect and restor the Cemetery Pond Wetland area:

  • In 2022, it voted to spend $85,000 to support continued acquisitions of the area’s wetland and its buffer. This funding helped add more than an acre to the wetland restoration project site and helped put King County in a position where it could eventually buy the parcel.
  • In 2024, community members voted to spend $54,000 to support new interpretive signs near the wetland’s ponds to educate the community about preservation and providing public access and amenities.

Open House on May 14

The Cemetery Pond Wetland Protection and Restoration project is managed by the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks.

It is working to enhance the wetland by removing historic fill, improving stormwater management, and restoring native vegetation within the pond, which plays a vital role in water quality and habitat, and is the headwaters of salmon-bearing May Creek.

Located near Southeast 128th SE 128th and 165th Avenue Southeast, Cemetery Pond has over time lost about 2 acres of its historical 7-1/2-acre size because of illegal dumping and invasive vegetation infestation, decreasing the wetland’s ability to store, clean and slowly release rainwater runoff. The project calls for removing about 2 acres of fill, depending on the results of community co-design, permitting, and construction funding.

On May 14, DNRP will hold a design presentation and online/in-person open house event in Renton, where it will present the final design. The event will include a presentation on the latest design plans and a community Q&A for the Cemetery Pond wetland restoration and stormwater park project on the roughly 13-acre parcel. This is an opportunity for community members to meet the project team, see the latest designs, and share feedback to help shape this important restoration effort.

The May 14 design presentation and open house is set for 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Hilltop Heritage Elementary School, 1075 Duvall Ave. NE, Renton, with the online open house occurring the same evening from 6-7:30 p.m. Meeting details and the final design drawing are available at kingcounty.gov/cemeterypond.