Puget Sound Innovation Stories

Kitsap
Don’t Drip and Drive

Don’t Drip and Drive

Helping drivers prevent pollution from drips and leaks Each year, vehicles driving around Puget Sound leak approximately 7 million quarts of vehicle fluids, including motor oil, fuel, lubricants and more into the Puget Sound watershed. Oil and other petroleum products...

Regional On-site Sewage System Loan Program

Regional On-site Sewage System Loan Program

Helping homeowners repair or replace failing on-site sewage systems The Regional On-site Sewage System Loan Program (RLP) in Washington State consolidates multiple county-level on-site sewage system loan programs into a single public-private partnership between the...

Olympia Oyster Restoration

Olympia Oyster Restoration

Rebuilding native oyster beds and important habitat The Olympia oyster is Washington's original oyster. As our only native oyster species, they help keep our estuaries healthy by providing habitat for a diverse community of organisms. The oysters grow in aggregations,...

Kitsap County Stormwater System Operation & Maintenance

Kitsap County Stormwater System Operation & Maintenance

Maintaining effective stormwater facilities to reduce water pollution For Kitsap County, maintenance is the foundation of a properly functioning drainage and stormwater treatment system. This system includes: 670 stormwater facilities where runoff from roads is...

Union River Estuary Restoration

Union River Estuary Restoration

Restoring habitat and connecting people and salmon The Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife collaborated to return ocean tides to restore salt marsh habitat in the lower Union River, which is part of the larger Lynch...

12,000 Rain Gardens

12,000 Rain Gardens

Improving Puget Sound water quality one rain garden at a time! Rain gardens reduce polluted runoff into streams and Puget Sound by capturing and filtering stormwater runoff from roofs, driveways, roads, and other hard surfaces. Rain gardens are being installed all...

Washington Sea Grant Crab Team

Washington Sea Grant Crab Team

Engaging citizen science volunteers to protect the Salish Sea from invasive European Green Crab The European green crab is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as one of the world's 100 most damaging invasive species. European green...

Derelict Fishing Gear Program

Derelict Fishing Gear Program

Protecting marine animals from entanglement in lost fishing gear Commercial and recreational fishing is a way of life in Puget Sound where generations have enjoyed the bounty of the harvest and the thrill of the catch. Lost fishing gear such as gillnets and crab pots...

Duwe’iq Stormwater Treatment Wetland

Duwe’iq Stormwater Treatment Wetland

Clear Creek, a Puget Sound salmon stream, flows into Dyes Inlet, which supports  shellfish beds, water recreation activities, and nearshore wildlife habitat. Like many Puget Sound streams, Clear Creek has been encroached on by rapid development as the Puget...

Hood Canal Bridge Ecosystem Impact Assessment

Hood Canal Bridge Ecosystem Impact Assessment

Project Summary The Hood Canal Bridge connects people and commerce between the Olympic Peninsula and the rest of Puget Sound. A floating bridge, its pontoons span 83% of the width of Hood Canal and extend 15 feet underwater. The bridge stands between the Pacific Ocean...

Milwaukee Dock Eelgrass Restoration

Milwaukee Dock Eelgrass Restoration

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: 06 LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT: 23 WRIA: 15 CITY, COUNTY: Bainbridge Island, Kitsap County   Project Summary Long on the decline in Puget Sound, eelgrass is recognized by the Puget Sound Partnership and the Governor's Results Washington program...

Salish Sea Marine Survival

Salish Sea Marine Survival

Endangered Species Act listed Puget Sound Chinook salmon populations have plummeted by 50% since the mid-80s and steelhead have experienced even steeper declines. Research points to marine survival as the missing link to recovery. The Salish Sea Marine Survival...

Manchester Stormwater Park

Manchester Stormwater Park

Manchester Stormwater Park is Puget Sound's first stormwater park, providing water quality treatment for an entire community's stormwater in just one small park. The project supports Kitsap County's efforts to meet the requirements of the federal Clean...

Chambers Bay & San Juan Islands

Chambers Bay & San Juan Islands

Chambers Bay was the site of the 2015 United States Golf Association U.S. Open tournament. Hood Canal is home to the deepest part of Puget Sound. Both are beautiful places—but herring don't care about the scenery. They come to spawn. These sites, along with...

Washington’s Local Source Control Partnership

Washington’s Local Source Control Partnership

Washington's Local Source Control Partnership offers small businesses in 19 Puget Sound communities free, hands-on pollution prevention assistance, such as spill prevention, proper chemical management, and other resources. Many pollution prevention programs focus on...

Kingston Recycled Water

Kingston Recycled Water

Kingston's recycled water project involves upgrading the Kingston Treatment Plant from secondary to tertiary treatment and providing the resulting recycled water to irrigate the White Horse Golf Club. The water will also be used to enhance stream flow and improve the...

Dickerson Creek

Dickerson Creek

Dickerson Creek's upper reaches have some of the best salmon spawning and rearing habitat in Puget Sound. But Dickerson Creek and adjacent Chico Creek have been affected by streamside residential development and aging, undersized culverts. The culverts were identified...