From onsite septic repair to stormwater infrastructure, $183 million is going to more than 100 clean water projects

Ecology’s Water Quality Program is offering more than $183 million in financial assistance for 106 high-priority clean water projects across the state. The funding includes $169 million for 105 new projects and $14 million to fully fund a project from last year’s list. Offers went out to the successful applicants on June 28 and the projects can start as soon as the agreements are finalized.

“Nearly 90 percent of our state’s water quality funding goes to local communities,” said Heather Bartlett, Ecology’s Water Quality Program Manager. “Clean water projects can be in communities big or small and anything from enhancing wastewater treatment systems to designing stormwater gardens to planting trees along rivers.”

Our Water Quality Combined Funding Program supports local communities by helping them upgrade sewage treatment systems, manage polluted stormwater runoff, and complete a variety of other projects to prevent and cleanup pollution. More than $100 million of our combined funding is for new projects that will help support Puget Sound recovery. These projects are a high priority, as they help improve water quality and create a healthy habitat for the endangered Southern Resident Orca, salmon, and the food web they rely on.

Clean water funding comes from a mix of state and federal funds for water quality improvements and protection. State financial managers calculate that 11 direct and indirect jobs are created in Washington for every $1 million spent on building clean water infrastructure.

Our interactive map shows where the projects are located and provides additional details. Below you'll find a few of the project highlights.

Reducing stormwater pollution

The South Fork of the Palouse River will benefit from a new 

stormwater decant facility in Pullman.

Ecology is offering $33 million in grants to 38 communities to implement projects to treat and reduce stormwater pollution. More than $20.5 million of the stormwater grant funding is for Puget Sound recovery projects, as stormwater runoff is a leading pollution threat in urban areas. The highest-priority stormwater projects include:

• The City of Pullman in Whitman County was offered a $525 thousand grant to design and build a new stormwater decant facility. The City’s current facility is undersized and not connected to the City’s sewer system. The new facility will help improve water quality in the South Fork Palouse River, as untreated stormwater has been identified as an important source of pollutants to the river.
• The City of Bremerton in Kitsap County was offered a grant of more than $800 thousand to construct a system to treat runoff from 6.31 acres of urban roads and parking lots and 8.32 acres of other surfaces to improve the water quality of Ostrich Creek. The creek is considered to be the most polluted stream in Kitsap County, with restrictions on contact due to pollution. The project was the highest rated stormwater project among this year’s applications, and it is a high priority in the Puget Sound Action Agenda.
• The City of Tacoma in Pierce County was tagged to receive a $5 million grant and more than $2.7 million in loan to retrofit stormwater treatment on nearly 27 blocks of failed residential roadway in the Larchmont Neighborhood. The project will treat stormwater and reduce stormwater flows from 43 developed acres through infiltration, using permeable pavement and sidewalks. The project will help restore more natural hydrologic conditions to Flett Creek and Chambers Creek.

This planning map shows the blocks in Tacoma's Larchmont 

Neighborhood that will receive stormwater retrofit.

Addressing nonpoint pollution

Nonpoint pollution comes from activities that are usually widespread across an area without a single pollution source. Nonpoint pollution is a serious pollution problem across the state, and one of the most difficult to solve. We are helping to address nonpoint pollution by funding 33 projects with $21.4 million in grants, forgivable loans that do not have to be repaid, and low interest rate loans.

This septic project in Chinook is one of +1,200 projects
Craft3 has financed under the Regional Loan Program to
improve public health and water quality.

• The projects offered funding include an expansion of the highly successful Regional Loan Program for repairing and replacing failing onsite septic systems at homes and small businesses. The program currently includes 15 counties, but with the new funding it is expanding to Pend Orielle, Stevens, Ferry, Skagit, Okanogan, Benton, and Franklin. It is expected that loans will be available in these new areas by September, 2019.

• The Underwood Conservation District in Klickitat County was offered a $250 thousand grant to conduct riparian planting, install cattle exclusion fencing, implement livestock best management practices, monitor water quality, and provide education and technical assistance in the White Salmon River Watershed. The primary areas of focus for the project are streamside agricultural areas in the Trout Lake Valley.
• The Cascadia Conservation District in Chelan County was offered a $245 thousand grant to implement a large-scale riparian restoration plan through a community-wide clean water outreach and education campaign and to provide technical assistance to landowners to take steps to reduce nonpoint source pollution and practice good stewardship. The project is consistent with actions recommended in locally-developed water quality improvement reports and management plans.

Supporting wastewater treatment projects

A leaking, exposed outfall pipe that goes into

Olequa Creek could be replaced with new funding.

Ecology is offering $124 million for 35 wastewater treatment projects. Of this, $110 million is for new projects and $14 million is to fully fund a project from last year’s list. Nine of the projects qualified for hardship financial assistance due to their potential impact on residential sewer bills. These hardship projects may receive a combination of grants, forgivable loans that do not have to be repaid, and low interest rate loans. High priority wastewater hardship projects include:

• Yakima County was offered nearly $1.5 million in grant and $700 thousand in loan to design and construct critical repairs and improvements at the wastewater treatment facility in the community of Buena. The repairs and improvements are necessary to ensure proper treatment of the wastewater discharged from the facility. The project was the highest rated among all projects submitted for funding this year.
• The City of Vader in Lewis County was awarded $4.8 million in grant and loan to protect Olequa Creek by constructing significant improvements to its wastewater treatment facility. The funding for the project is approximately half grant and half loan.

Adequate funding in state budgets for the Centennial Clean Water Program is vital for helping small, financially challenged communities such as these to complete important wastewater projects. The program also provides funding for many nonpoint pollution control projects across the state.

More information

We’re looking forward to seeing these projects take off! In the coming months, we plan to share updates and clean water successes.  If your community is receiving funding for clean water projects and you’d like to share your project’s progress, please let us know by emailing Emma Kluzniok at emma.kluzniok@ecy.wa.gov.

Find out more about the Water Quality Combined Funding Program on our website.

More information on this funding cycle, including a link to the funding offer list and an interactive map of our offered funding for projects can be found on our funding cycles webpage.

A map of recent clean water projects across the state can be found on our Ecology Grants and Loans map.

By Daniel Thompson and Colleen Keltz, Water Quality Program

By managing stormwater, cities and counties are helping to protect Washington’s waters

Reducing stormwater pollution helps prevent toxins from entering the water and harming orca and salmon. 

The state’s most-populated cities and counties now have updated municipal stormwater permits. The permits are aimed at reducing stormwater pollution at its source, treating it, and controlling volume and flow, so cleaner water goes into our creeks, rivers, lakes, groundwater, and Puget Sound.

Why it matters

A clean street and a clear catch basin or stormwater 

drain are key to clean stormwater! 

Photo credit: City of Federal Way, D.Smith

Stormwater runoff is a leading pollution threat to lakes, rivers, streams, and marine water bodies in urban areas of Washington State. As rain and snowmelt runs off buildings, paved streets, highways, and parking lots, it increases in speed and volume, and can pick up pollution such as oil, fertilizers, pesticides, soil, trash, and pet waste. These pollutants and higher flows are carried into local water bodies, where they can harm water quality and habitat.

“More than 160 cities, counties, and municipalities are part of the stormwater permits.” said Heather Bartlett, Water Quality Program Manager at Ecology. “By managing stormwater, they are reducing the flow of toxins into Washington’s waters. Reducing exposure to toxic pollutants is one of our top priorities for protecting and restoring orca and salmon.”

Washington’s municipal stormwater permitting program is unique in the amount of state funding devoted to implementation. Ecology provides financial support to permittees through a multi-million dollar grant program used to address the impacts of municipal stormwater. That said, nearly all permittees fund their core programs with stormwater utility fees.

Three stormwater permits

Municipal stormwater permits are divided into three categories, based on population and geography:

• Phase I permits include incorporated cities with a population over 100,000 people and unincorporated counties with populations over 250,000 people. 
• Western Washington Phase II and Eastern Washington Phase II permits are for the next most populated parts of the state. 

We separate the Phase II permits into East and West because of the differences in climate.

Our map shows the areas of the state with municipal stormwater permits.

What are the updates?

Swales, or rain gardens, help filter pollution 

before it goes down the storm drain.

We review and update the permits to add new science and clarify requirements. Here are a few highlights from the 2019 updates:

New requirements: Phase I Permittees and Western Washington Phase II permittees are required to prioritize and plan for stormwater management actions. Western Washington Phase II permittees also have a new requirement to implement source control programs for existing development.

• Stormwater planning will help ensure low impact development remains the preferred and commonly used approach, and through a refined planning approach, identify stormwater improvement projects and activities to implement in priority basins. 
• Source control programs for existing development will help ensure businesses use source control best management practices to prevent stormwater contamination and illicit discharges. Phase I Permittees have been implementing this program since the 2007 permit, and it has proven to be very effective for controlling pollution sources.

Bilingual education and outreach programs can be 

part of the municipal stormwater permit.

Environmental Justice: As the permits inform city and county-wide programs, we are including requirements and guidance calling attention to overburdened communities in the permits. We aim to improve awareness and be more inclusive to improve quality of life for those most affected by water quality impairments.

Clarifications: We refined language throughout to clarify operations and maintenance, public education, controlling runoff for new and re-development, structural stormwater controls, and improving annual reporting.

To support permit implementation, we have developed Stormwater Management Manuals for Eastern and Western Washington. The manuals are available on our stormwater manuals page.

Three new permittees

We are adding three new permittees for 2019. We evaluated municipalities that meet the population threshold for permit coverage. Based on that evaluation, College Place in Walla Walla County, Clallam County’s Urban Growth Area surrounding Port Angeles, and Shelton in Mason County are now required to apply for the permit.

Renton's grant-funded Sunset Terrace Regional 

Stormwater Facility bioretention cell provides 

enhanced treatment for 2.9 acres.

New permittees have an alternative implementation schedule for permit requirements, as we recognize the new permittees need time to fully develop their stormwater programs.

New permittees receive funding for implementation along with existing permittees, and may also compete in other water quality financial assistance programs to fund stormwater projects and activities.

Listening to stakeholders throughout the process 

We’ve gotten feedback from many stakeholders throughout this update process. We held listening sessions and public meetings across the state over the past two years to gather input. Our formal comment period ran from Aug. 15 through Nov. 14, 2018, resulting in more than 3,000 comments on the drafts. Our team revised permit language based on the feedback we received. You can learn more about our public process in our Aug. 15, 2018 blog post.

Next Steps

The permits become effective on August 1, 2019.

This is what you'll see if you click the 

three dashes on the listserv page.

Over the coming months, Ecology will be updating and preparing guidance documents on implementing new permit requirements involving stormwater planning and source control permit sections.

Join our municipal stormwater permit listserv to receive future updates about our permits. Click the three dashes in the right hand corner for subscriber options.

To learn more about water quality grants and loans, including funding for stormwater projects, visit our grants and loans page.

By: Colleen Keltz, Water Quality Communications

Ecology seeks comments on draft general permit for industrial stormwater

Attend one of the six workshops around the state

When rain or snow melt run off surfaces such as rooftops, paved streets, highways, and parking lots, we call it stormwater. Stormwater can pick up pollutants that contaminate local water bodies and potentially harm fish and other aquatic life. We use stormwater permits to protect the water quality of Washington’s lakes, rivers, and marine waters.



An example of one of the 1,200 industrial sites in Washington
that fall under the general permit.

Stormwater can also pick up pollutants from factories and businesses. The Industrial Stormwater General Permit helps ensure industrial facilities meet federal and state regulations to protect Washington’s water quality. Industrial facilities that are similar in their processes and types of stormwater runoff fall under this general permit. We require many types of industrial sites in Washington to monitor, measure, and reduce stormwater pollution leaving their facilities.

We update the Industrial Stormwater General Permit every five years. As part of this process, we invite the public to give feedback on the proposed draft permit from May 1 until June 29, 2019.

What are the proposed changes?

We are proposing to add two new business sectors, based on public input during the last permit update and our experience with facilities in these categories. Businesses in these new sectors would need to apply for coverage under the industrial permit. We expect this will add about 50 new permitees.

• Heavy machinery rental yards that handle large earthmoving equipment, heavy trucks, log loaders, etc. This excludes businesses that provide equipment rental for home use. This category is of concern as it involves machinery stored and repaired outside and has the potential to cause oil, metals, and other pollution from the equipment and maintenance activities to go into the stormwater system. 
• Marine Construction storage facilities where construction materials and machinery are stored and maintained. This would not cover construction that occurs in marine waters, but does cover land-based storage yards. Pollutants of concern are metals, oil, solids, and other pollutants based on location and type of construction.

Other permit changes include:

An example of a clean log yard using good bark management.

• Changing the timing of First Fall Storm Event sampling– this is the first precipitation event leading to discharge of stormwater after the dry season. Pollutants generally accumulate over the dry season and are washed out during the first fall storms, making it important data to catch. Based on climate data for the state, we propose to move the timing of when to begin monitoring for the First Fall Storm Event from October 1, to September 1.
• Revising requirements for Consistent Attainment – If businesses consistently meet their benchmarks over two years, they may be able to reduce monitoring to once a year for three years. We are proposing to require one fourth quarter sample to verify that permittees are still meeting the requirements for reduced monitoring.

A full list of changes between the last permit and the new draft permit can be found in the permit factsheet.

Listening to stakeholders throughout the process

We received feedback from many stakeholders during early engagement on this update process. From June to November 2018, we held several listening sessions in eastern and western Washington and gathered email and online comments with specific input. We considered these comments as we developed the draft permit.

How to comment

An example of a clean site using source control over equipment.
See the overhang on the building on the right that prevents stormwater
contact with outdoor equipment

We have now opened our formal comment period, and we invite comments on the draft documents from May 1 through June 29, 2019. You can find the draft permit and supporting documents, as well as other information on our webpage. You can submit comments using our online comment system.

We will also hold a series of workshops and public hearings, during which you can learn about the proposed changes to the permit and provide formal comment. Information on workshops and public hearings can be found on our public events page.

Once we close the comment period, we will review and respond to comments. Our response to comments will be included in the final permit documents. We intend to make a final decision on updating the permit in Fall 2019.

Preventing runoff pollution

When we cover the land with hardened surfaces like roads, parking lots, sub-divisions and shopping malls, we restrict its ability to soak up water and naturally filter out pollution. To allow for businesses to grow we provide tools to help people, businesses, and local governments manage their runoff pollution.  Learn more about stormwater runoff and what you can do about it.

$183 million proposed for clean water projects across the state

More than 100 projects would help improve infrastructure and protect the environment. 

Ecology is proposing to award more than $183 million in financial assistance for 107 high-priority clean water projects across the state. Our Water Quality Combined Funding Program supports local communities, helping them upgrade sewage treatment systems, manage polluted stormwater runoff, and complete a variety of other projects to prevent and cleanup pollution. The entire draft funding list is available online.

This year, more than $114 million of our combined funding is for projects that will help support Puget Sound recovery. These projects are a high priority, as they help improve water quality and create a healthy habitat for the endangered Southern Resident Orca, salmon, and the food web they rely on.

Nearly 70 percent of the funding we manage goes to local communities for environmental projects. Our clean water funding comes from a mix of state and federal funds dedicated for water quality improvements and protection. State financial managers calculate that 11 direct and indirect jobs are created in Washington for every $1 million spent on building clean water infrastructure.

The funding is contingent on passage of state and federal budgets appropriating funding for the projects. We will announce the final project list this summer, as soon as funding is secured.

Find proposed projects in your area using our interactive map. 

Here are a few project highlights

As proposed, 38 communities across the state will split $33 million in grants to implement projects to treat and reduce stormwater pollution. More than $20.5 million of the stormwater grants funding is for Puget Sound recovery projects. The highest-priority stormwater projects include:

Renton's grant-funded Sunset Terrace Regional Stormwater Facility
bioretention cell provides enhanced treatment for 2.9 acres. 

• The City of Bremerton in Kitsap County may receive a grant of more than $800 thousand to construct a system to treat runoff from 6.31 acres of urban roads and parking lots and 8.32 acres of other surfaces to improve water quality in Ostrich Creek. The creek is considered the most polluted stream in Kitsap County, with restrictions on contact due to pollution. The project was the highest rated stormwater project among this year’s applications, and is a high priority in the Puget Sound Action Agenda.
• The City of Tacoma in Pierce County is slated for a $5 million grant and more than $2.7 million in loan to replace nearly 27 blocks of failed residential roadway in the Larchmont Neighborhood. The project will treat stormwater and reduce stormwater flows from 43 developed acres through infiltration using permeable pavement and sidewalks. The project will help restore more natural hydrologic conditions to Flett and Chambers creeks.

Thirty-three projects are tagged to receive about $21.4 million in grants, forgivable loans that do not have to be repaid, and low interest rate loans to address nonpoint pollution. Nonpoint pollution has a significant impact on water quality; it comes from activities that are widespread usually across an area instead of a single identifiable source of pollution. The projects proposed for funding include an expansion of the highly successful Regional Loan Program for repairing and replacing failing on-site sewage systems at homes and small businesses. Examples of other nonpoint projects that may be funded include:

Grant-funded riparian restoration prevents stream channel erosion, 

filters pollutants, and improves salmon habitat on the Palouse River. 

• The Underwood Conservation District in Klickitat County is in line to receive a $250 thousand grant to conduct riparian planting, install cattle exclusion fencing, implement livestock best management practices, monitor water quality, and provide education and technical assistance in the White Salmon River Watershed. The primary areas of focus for the project are streamside agricultural areas in the Trout Lake Valley.
• The Cascadia Conservation District in Chelan County is on track to receive a grant of about $245 thousand to implement a large-scale riparian restoration plan through a community-wide clean water outreach and education campaign and by providing technical assistance to landowners to take steps to reduce nonpoint source pollution and practice good stewardship. The project is consistent with actions recommended in locally developed water quality improvement reports and management plans.

There are 36 wastewater treatment projects marked to receive approximately $125 million. Nine of the projects qualify for hardship financial assistance due to their potential impact on residential sewer bills. These hardship projects may receive a combination of grants, forgivable loans that do not have to be repaid, and low interest rate loans. High priority wastewater hardship projects include:

An exposed outfall pipe goes from Vader's lagoon

 to Olequa Creek. The pipe has leaks that will be fixed 

if the project is funded.

• Yakima County is proposed to receive nearly $1.5 million in grant and $700 thousand in loan to design and construct critical repairs and improvements at the wastewater treatment facility in the community of Buena. The repairs and improvements are necessary to ensure proper treatment of the wastewater discharged from the facility. The project was the highest rated of all projects submitted for funding this year.
• The City of Vader in Lewis County may receive about $4.8 million in grant and loan to protect Olequa Creek by constructing significant improvements to its wastewater treatment facility. If adequate funding is included in the state budget, the funding for the project will be approximately half grant and half loan.

Let us know what you think

Comments

We invite comments on our draft funding list. Send comments to Daniel Thompson at daniel.thompson@ecy.wa.gov by 5:00pm on February 18.

Public meeting

You can also join us for a meeting to discuss the draft funding list:
Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 1:00pm
Pierce County Library
Processing and Administrative Center
3005 112th Street E
Tacoma, WA, 98446

More Information

Learn more about clean water grants and loans on our website.

By Daniel Thompson and Colleen Keltz, Water Quality Program