Puget Sound Innovation Stories

reduce pollution
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...

Tacoma stormwater system cleaning for legacy pollutants

Tacoma stormwater system cleaning for legacy pollutants

Erasing a legacy of pollution The Thea Foss Waterway in Commencement Bay includes three miles of nearshore habitat important for fish and wildlife. This area was contaminated by over a century of industrialization and was identified by the Environmental Protection...

StormFest Education Program

StormFest Education Program

Delivering Effective Stormwater Education to Diverse Communities StormFest is a hands-on, one-day, outdoor stormwater and watershed science education program for middle school students in the City of Burien. The program was developed to teach students what stormwater...

Thornton Creek Salmon Habitat Restoration

Thornton Creek Salmon Habitat Restoration

Salmon return to spawn after restoring an urban stream's natural habitat Chinook salmon returned to Thornton Creek in the Meadowdale neighborhood of Seattle in 2018 for the first time in twenty years. Chinook salmon were filmed laying their eggs in this urban stream,...

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...

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...

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...

Maynard Nearshore Restoration

Maynard Nearshore Restoration

Removing defunct infrastructure to protect fish and shellfish The Maynard Nearshore Restoration Project is located at the head of Discovery Bay in Jefferson County. Salmon and Snow Creek enter the bay within a half-mile of one another forming an estuary that...

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...

Depave Puget Sound

Depave Puget Sound

Project Summary Nonpoint sources of pollution, such as stormwater runoff, are the biggest threats to Puget Sound water quality. Polluted stormwater carries toxins, nutrients, sediment, and bacteria to Puget Sound where these pollutants affect aquatic life and public...

Samish Indian Nation Creosote Removal

Samish Indian Nation Creosote Removal

Over the last three years, more than 400,000 pounds of creosote treated wood and marine debris have been removed from both public and private shorelines of Skagit County, Island County, Southern Whatcom County, and the San Juan Islands. Lead by the Samish Indian...

Puyallup Green Street

Puyallup Green Street

Puyallup has its first Green Street—though for now it's still called 8th Avenue. The 8th Avenue Low-Impact Development (LID) retrofit encompasses more than 18,000 square feet of porous asphalt roadway, 3,200 square feet of permeable sidewalks, and 11 rain...

Point Defiance Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility

Point Defiance Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility

Polluted stormwater is one of the biggest threats to Puget Sound, and the Point Defiance Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility helps counter that threat. Before the facility was built, polluted stormwater from a 754-acre watershed flowed untreated before spilling...

Maury Island & Quartermaster Harbor

Maury Island & Quartermaster Harbor

Thanks to improved water quality, the Washington State Department of Health recently reopened 180 acres of shellfish beds on Vashon Island to commercial and recreational harvesting for the first time in 20 years. Water quality in Quartermaster Harbor suffered not...

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...

Veterans Conservation Corps

Veterans Conservation Corps

The Veterans Conservation Corps provides opportunities for recently returned veterans to transition from military to civilian work through AmeriCorps service. The Veterans Conservation Corps completes numerous restoration projects across Washington state every year....

Capitol Hill Water Quality Project—Swale on Yale

Capitol Hill Water Quality Project—Swale on Yale

Whenever it rains, untreated stormwater from more than 600 acres of north Capitol Hill, in Seattle, drains directly into Lake Union. Stormwater flows down buildings and across the streets, collecting pollutants before being discharged to the lake. Lake Union is a key...

Clarks Creek

Clarks Creek

Clarks Creek near the city of Puyallup was the site of a recent study conducted by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians. The two-year study examined sediment sources throughout the creek, and investigators found that if 23 major sources of sediment were repaired, more...

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...

Duwamish River Community Health

Duwamish River Community Health

The Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition Technical Advisory Group launched the Healthy Rivers/Healthy Communities project in 2014 to address community and environmental health priorities in the Duwamish Valley neighborhoods of South Park and Georgetown, two neighborhoods...

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...

Bayshore Preserve &  Oakland Bay

Bayshore Preserve & Oakland Bay

Bayshore Preserve was created to protect the country's most productive Manila clam site. Washington state is the biggest exporter of Manila clams in the country, and Oakland Bay in Mason County is where to find them. The Squaxin Island Tribe, as well as 2,000 annual...