A plan to benefit Enumclaw’s Boise Creek is among 14 projects to receive funding through the state’s Department of Ecology.

State money has been allocated for what the DOE terms “water quality improvement and environmental enhancement projects. Each of the 14 projects aims to improve the natural environment in local watersheds.

The Boise Creek project is earmarked for a $40,000 grant, with money directed to the King County Water and Land Resources Division. Work is to be done on the creek where it meanders through the Enumclaw Golf Course.

According to an Ecology press release, the county will use the grant money to improve water quality and habitat “within and adjacent to Boise Creek by replacing invasive vegetation with native trees and shrubs.”

The grants are funded through Ecology’s Terry Husseman Account designed to help local governments, conservation and port districts, tribal governments, fisheries enhancement groups, and other state agencies pay for a variety of environmental projects.

The account is funded by payments from penalties the department issues for violations of the state Water Pollution Control Act.

Ecology evaluated 27 different project submittals worth about $945,000. The department weighed each proposal’s expected environmental benefits, local support and involvement, cost effectiveness, and readiness of the project to proceed and be completed on time and on budget.