Land Surveyors in Redmond, WA

Built on Top of the Water Supply

Redmond pumps part of its own drinking water. The city runs five supply wells in the Redmond alluvial aquifer, and groundwater provides roughly 40 percent of what comes out of local taps. That aquifer is shallow - five to fifteen feet down in places - so the city maps Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas around the wells, based on how quickly groundwater travels to them, and regulates what can be built, stored or excavated inside them. For a downtown or valley parcel, the recharge-area designation is one of the first things a project team looks up, and it shapes grading and foundation design.

The Sammamish River Valley

The Sammamish River runs from Lake Sammamish past downtown on its way to Lake Washington. A 1965 flood control project straightened and deepened it, cutting flood risk on the farmland and, as a side effect, opening the valley to commercial and residential growth. Parts of downtown remain in the floodplain, and new development there can meet compensatory storage requirements through the city's regional Sammamish River floodplain storage project instead of on its own site. Near Marymoor Park and along Bear Creek and Evans Creek the same low ground returns.

Education Hill, Overlake and the Newer Plats

Education Hill, a mile and a half north of downtown, is one of the oldest residential areas; it was called Poverty Hill until it was annexed in the 1950s and renamed for its schools. Farther east, the plateau subdivisions are much newer, and many carry recorded covenants, homeowners' association tracts and native growth protection easements that restrict fences and clearing. To the west, Overlake is dominated by the Microsoft campus and a growing cluster of offices and apartments around the light rail line.

What Redmond Owners and Builders Order

Overlake and downtown commercial deals depend on the ALTA/NSPS survey, and large builds there need construction staking and a closing as-built survey. Valley parcels near the river ask for an elevation certificate and a topographic survey before grading. In the HOA subdivisions a boundary survey settles where the lot ends and the association tract or easement begins. Older Education Hill parcels are sometimes large enough for a short plat, and adjoining owners reconfigure lines with a boundary line adjustment. See also Kirkland and Bellevue.

Redmond Survey FAQs