Tight budgets and deferred maintenance have impacted a growing list of swimming facilities and programs in the past six months.  Recent news:

Carole Ann Wald Memorial Pool (Saint Edward State Park) has been closed due to budget cuts.  Will reopen soon, but funding is hazy:

• St. Ed’s Wald pool could reopen soon (Kenmore Reporter)
• New Operator to Reopen Carole Ann Wald Pool at St. Ed (Kenmore Blog)
• Get involved in the effort to keep this pool open, or just stay informed: Join Bill Leak’s mailing list, http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Support_Northshore_Aquatics/  

Yost Pool (Edmonds) will remain open this year:

• Edmonds pool will open in June, thanks to donors (HeraldNet Everett)
• Contact us if you’d like to get in touch with people involved in efforts to keep this pool open.

Juanita High School Pool (Kirkland) will likely close at the end of the summer:

• Juanita High swimming pool faces shut-down (Kirkland Reporter)
• Facebook group:  Save the Juanita Pool

Info on other pools in danger of closure:

• Pools at Risk (Pacific Northwest Swimming)
• Seattle-area pools in jeopardy of closing (King-5 News, 3/12/2009): "The Fircrest swimming pool in Shoreline will end operations Friday and the Evergreen pool in south Seattle is expected to lose its King County funding in June."
• Another local pool may face closure, this time Ruiz-Costie in Bothell (Bothell/Kenmore Reporter, 7/20/2009)

UW Swim Team (Seattle) eliminated, as part of UW budget cuts:

• Washington To Discontinue Swimming Programs (Official UW news release)
• UW Cuts Swimming Teams and UW’s heartless decision leaves swimmers out in cold (Seattle Times)
• Cost of UW athletic programs. (US Dept. of Education)
• Alum efforts to save the teams (and possibly build a pool):
  • Group could save UW swimming program (Video from KIRO)
  • Supporters of UW swim program working to keep it afloat (NWCN)
  • Students, Supporters Look to Future After UW Swimming (KUOW)

UW Hec Ed Pool (Seattle) endangered:

• Petition to Keep the UW’s Hec Ed Pool Open

Mount Rainier Pool (Auburn) endangered:

• KING Pool Closures - A Very Real Problem (KING Aquatics).

Wading Pools in Seattle closed this summer:

• Seattle parks to operate fewer wading pools this summer — (Allows completion of updates necessary to comply with a new safety law).

[Update: We’re updating this post with additional information on pool closures as we receive it.  Newly reported pool issues appear at the end of the list.]