Indigenous peoples named the Black River ‘the river of two mouths’ due to its tidal and seasonal intermittent reversal. For millennia, this three-mile long connection delivered the 770 square mile Lake Washington and Cedar watersheds to the Duwamish at the confluence once referred to as ‘Meeting of Rivers.’ In 1916, canals cut at present day Montlake and Fremont neighborhoods created the Lake Washington Ship Canal, a new connection to Puget Sound at Shilshole Bay. This feat of engineering redistributed the watershed and dropped the Lake’s water level by nine feet. As a result, the Black River ran dry, grounding canoes and leaving fish flopping in the mud. A century later, its bed lies buried beneath Renton’s parking lots and speculative commercial construction. Today, a King County managed pump station regulates runoff from 25 square miles of suburban/industrial development to the south.