The Need

Our Community Is Underserved

The Lower Snoqualmie Valley and surrounding NE King County is home to nearly 49,000 residents who lack convenient access to public aquatic facilities and year-round indoor recreation. Our communities—Duvall, Carnation, Union Hill, Novelty Hill, Redmond Ridge, and surrounding unincorporated King County—are geographically isolated from existing pools and recreation centers.

The Communities We Serve

Our service area encompasses:

These residents currently face significant barriers to accessing aquatic recreation and swim education—barriers that disproportionately affect working families, seniors, and those without reliable transportation.

The Drowning Crisis

Drowning is preventable, yet it remains a leading cause of death for children and a significant risk for all ages. The statistics are sobering:

Our region’s beautiful rivers, lakes, and waterways are both an attraction and a risk. Without access to formal swim instruction, too many residents—especially children—never learn the life-saving skill of swimming.

The Swim Education Gap

The demand for swim lessons in our area far exceeds the supply:

• Over 1,000 residents are currently on waitlists for Learn-to-Swim programs
• The nearest pools are oversubscribed and difficult to access
• Working families cannot easily transport children 30+ minutes each way for lessons
• Many children in our community never learn to swim, or even more dangerously — they take one or two seasons of lessons, enough to have confidence, but not enough to prevent them from drowning

Research consistently shows that formal swim instruction significantly reduces drowning risk. By bringing swim education closer to home, we can save lives.

Geographic Isolation

Unlike urban and suburban communities, our rural area lacks the infrastructure that many take for granted:

• No public pool within our service area
• Limited public transportation options
• Long commutes to existing facilities
• Weather challenges that make travel difficult during winter months

This isolation creates inequity. Families who can afford the time and resources to travel to regional pools have access to aquatic recreation; those who cannot are left without.

Beyond Swimming

An aquatic and recreation center serves far more than swimmers:

• Seniors benefit from low-impact aquatic exercise for joint health and mobility
• Physical therapy patients recover faster with aquatic rehabilitation
• Mental health improves through exercise and community connection
• Youth development is supported through structured programming
• Community bonds are strengthened when neighbors have a place to gather

The Time Is Now

Our region is growing. Nearly 50,000 residents across Duvall, Carnation, Union Hill, Novelty Hill, Redmond Ridge, and surrounding unincorporated King County currently have no local aquatic facility. That population continues to increase, and the gap in services grows with it.

Summers are getting hotter. Climate change is making access to safe, affordable cooling recreation less optional and more essential — particularly for families without private pools or the means to travel far.

Community connection matters more than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic made visible what many already knew: local gathering spaces are not amenities — they are infrastructure for community wellbeing.