Puget Sound Innovation Stories

U
incentives
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...

ECOSS Spill Kit Program

ECOSS Spill Kit Program

Preventing accidental spills before they drain into waterways Stormwater runoff is the leading source of pollution in Puget Sound watersheds. During storms, rainwater picks up everyday spills and leaks from business activities, construction work and vehicles. These...

Regional Conservation Partnership Program: Whatcom County

Regional Conservation Partnership Program: Whatcom County

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: 1 LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT: 42, 21 WRIA: 1 COUNTY: Whatcom County NRCS INVESTMENT: $1.3M   PROJECT SUMMARY Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) is a Farm Bill program administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service....

Drayton Harbor

Drayton Harbor

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: 2 LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT: 42 WRIA: 1 CITY, COUNTY: Blaine, Whatcom County Project Summary For decades, Drayton Harbor provided ideal growing conditions for shellfish and jobs for many in the local community. By 1995, much of Drayton Harbor was...

Puget Sound National Coastal Wetlands Conservation

Puget Sound National Coastal Wetlands Conservation

In early 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded the Washington State Department of Ecology with $4.7 million in National Coastal Wetlands Conservation grants to fund six projects to restore and protect wetlands in Puget Sound and the Grays Harbor area. The...

Smith Island

Smith Island

The Smith Island Estuary Restoration Project will benefit threatened salmon, restore ecological systems, and improve flood control and recreation across the region by: Removing a historic levee, excavating channel networks, and installing wood placements to improve...

Lower Big Quilcene

Lower Big Quilcene

The Lower Big Quilcene restoration project is in the design phase of developing community-supported actions to improve flood protection for the town of Quilcene, over 30 homes, and road access to the largest employer in Jefferson County—Coast...

Landscape Conservation & Local Infrastructure

Landscape Conservation & Local Infrastructure

The Landscape Conservation and Local Infrastructure Program in Seattle has been a major success. This program gives cities a financial incentive to use transfer of development rights—a market-based growth management and conservation tool. Rural landowners...

Cedar River Knotweed Removal

Cedar River Knotweed Removal

Stewardship in action: removing invasive knotweed one property at a time Invasive knotweed is an aggressive invader of riparian habitats throughout Western Washington. The plant displaces native vegetation and destabilizes riverbanks, disrupting natural habitat...

Birch Bay

Birch Bay

Birch Bay, north of Bellingham, was closed to commercial shellfish harvesting in 2008 because of bacteria contamination, affecting a 670-yard radius around the mouth of Terrell Creek.  Local, state, and federal agencies collaborated to create a comprehensive...