Puget Sound Innovation Stories

Island
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...

Cornet Bay Nearshore Habitat Restoration

Cornet Bay Nearshore Habitat Restoration

Restoring Nearshore Habitat While Improving Public Access Thousands of visitors come to Cornet Bay every year to launch boats, picnic, fish and crab. Six lanes of boat launches provide the main saltwater access from Deception Pass State Park, with as many as 800 boats...

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...

Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative

Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative

Local people. Local solutions. The Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative catalyzes and empowers local communities to conserve and restore their marine resources. Established in 1998, the Northwest Straits Commission provides funding, training and support to...

Ala Spit Armor Removal

Ala Spit Armor Removal

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: 2 LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT: 10 WRIA: 6 CITY, COUNTY: Whidbey Island, Island County   Project Summary Ala Spit, on the northeastern shore of Whidbey Island, is an important habitat for juvenile salmon and forage fish, but was damaged by...

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...