Amalia Walton and the Work of Protecting Floating Homes

Amalia Walton didn’t discover floating homes later in life—she grew up on one. Raised on a floating home in Eastlake, she has spent nearly her entire life living on the water. When she raised her own two children, she did so in a floating home in the same neighborhood, continuing the family connection to Lake Union and floating home life.

Young Amalia, at the top of the dock stairs, headed home.

From 2003 to 2016, she served on the FHA Board and later served as Board President from 2015 to 2016. During those years, she became one of the community’s most effective and trusted advisors.

And still is today.

Throughout her volunteer legislative work with the FHA, Amalia worked closely with Sheri Greaves. “Sheri took me under her wing early on,” Amalia says. Together, they formed a strong partnership that helped the FHA speak clearly and credibly on complex regulatory issues. For nearly every piece of floating-home–related legislation in the 2000s, their collaboration has helped ensure our community’s interests were represented.

Amalia’s most lasting contribution came during revisions to Seattle’s Shoreline Master Program. Working with the Washington Department of Ecology and the Seattle City Council, she helped secure “conforming and preferred use” status for floating homes. This designation gave residents legal certainty and made it easier to finance, insure, and renovate floating homes—an essential step in protecting the long-term future of the community. As Amalia later put it, the effort wasn’t just about zoning, but about giving families confidence that their homes on the water were secure.

Amalia Walton

Amalia’s practical approach was especially clear during the 2015 negotiations around the Washington Department of Natural Resources Habitat Conservation Plan. When proposed rules would have required 60 percent of dock surfaces to be light-permeable, Amalia invited DNR biologists and managers to her own floating home to see how docks are actually used. Paired with a supporting fish study, that site visit helped shift the conversation toward more flexible, site-specific solutions that balanced environmental goals with daily life on the docks.

Outside her volunteer work, Amalia has built a career deeply connected to Washington’s aquatic policy. She previously served as Deputy Supervisor for Aquatics and Geology at DNR, overseeing 2.6 million acres of state-owned aquatic lands, and now works as a Staff Attorney for the Squaxin Island Tribe. That combination of community leadership, regulatory experience, and legal expertise has made her an important bridge between floating home residents and the agencies that shape the lake’s future.