EPA Puget Sound Targeted Watershed Grant to Advance Low Impact Development in the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish (WRIA 8) Watershed

The following twelve WRIA 8 jurisdictions want to participate in an EPA grant application to advance LID in WRIA 8: King County, Snohomish County, Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, Shoreline, Sammamish, Woodinville, Bothell, Mill Creek, Mercer Island and Mukilteo (Renton, Kirkland and Issaquah may also join). Several of these jurisdictions have LID ordinances in place or have applied for DOE grants to assist them in developing LID ordinances. Most of these jurisdictions have one staff person who is trying to make LID a reality in their jurisdiction, but are finding common barriers such as existing policies and codes that conflict with LID or permit staff that need training in LID to review development applications with LID components. These barriers mean the LID remains a buzz word or an isolated project rather than becoming a new way of doing development. WRIA 8 is the most populated watershed in the state with 1.4 million people. This population is projected to increase to more than 1.7 million in 2020. If we are to save Chinook salmon and restore Puget Sound, we must address stormwater flows and water quality in our watershed.

1)FormWRIA-Wide LID Workgroup and Hire Consultant to Staff – WRIA 8 LID workgroup would be formed to foster networking and peer-to-peer learning between staff from WRIA 8 jurisdictions working on LID, work with the consultant to prioritize and scope work products helpful to the jurisdictions in advancing LID and seek other opportunities to advance LID in WRIA 8.By working together and sharing information and resources, LID staff can be more powerful and effective. LID Workgroup to meet quarterly for two years, followed by annual meetings in year 3 and 4 of the grant.

2)Consultant to Analyze Existing Tools, Develop New Tools, Review Policy and Codes and Make Recommendations on Implementation of LID in WRIA 8– The consultant will work with the LID to workgroup to prioritize and develop the scope of work for this effort. General tasks include:

  • Compile existing LID standards, manuals, and tools
  • Set up and maintain LID website for easy access to latest information on LID (could be WRIA 8 website, but exploring partnership with Dept. of Ecology and Puget Sound Partnership to put on their websites for broader exposure)
  • Review existing policies and code of the participating jurisdictions & make recommendations to coordinate existing policy and standards
  • Develop approximately 3 universal tools such as: development standards (e.g. general code variance for selected practices); plan review checklists; maintenance checklists or an evaluation tool to help determine a site’s suitability for LID practices. Tools and scope to be decided by LID Workgroup.
  • Research and develop implementation tools and incentives for LID and make recommends. Examples of incentive to explore: providing property owners with materials (e.g. plants, soil mix) for LID installation and increased points in LEED certification program for LID.
  • Research and prioritize potential pilot LID projects that test one or more of the universal tools developed by the consultant and would be of interest/benefit to participating WRIA 8 jurisdictions. Seek partnership with existing funding sources, including the King Conservation District, King County Waterworks and the KingCountyGreenBuilding program, to create a funding opportunity to construct pilot LID projects in WRIA 8.

3) Partner with WSU Extension Pierce County to Run a Training Program for Staff and Elected Officials - Develop and run a training program for local government staff, LID designers, developers and elected officials to build capacity to implement recommendations. Curtis Hinman, WSUPierceCounty (a regional expert in LID training) would tailor his existing training program to offer 4 seminars in WRIA 8. General topics that could be covered in addition to the tools being designed by the consultant:

  • Bio-retention/site design
  • Permeable paving/concrete
  • Green roofs/buildings
  • LID plan review/inspection

Benefits of this Grant to WRIA 8 Jurisdictions:

  • Implementation of the WRIA 8 Plan – The WRIA 8 Chinook Conservation Plan calls for all WRIA 8 jurisdictions to implement LID to help address stormwater flows and water quality. In our rapidly growing watershed, addressing stormwater and finding ways to reduce the impact of developmentarethe most important thing for us to be doing.
  • Assistjurisdictions in AddressingStormwater by Making LID More Feasible. This grant will help the region address common barriers to LID, particularly creating more consistency between jurisdictions on LID which is a critical issue for developers and building capacity for local government staff to review LID proposals.
  • Low Impact Development Can Address Many of Region’s Environmental Issues – Advancing low impact develop helps Puget Sound, salmon recovery, surface and groundwater quality, and water quantity.
  • Being a Puget Sound Leader & Developing Key Partnerships –This grant is for WRIA 8, but the clearing house of information, tools, incentives, etc. will be of benefit to all Puget Sound jurisdictions. This is a good opportunity to build partnerships with EPA, Washington State Extension, Department of Ecology, Puget Sound Partnership, KingCounty’s GreenBuilding program, etc. These partnerships will help us to be more effective in funding and implementing the WRIA 8 Plan in the future.