Recently, strong arguments have been made for a fiscally responsible approach to protecting Puget Sound. And for good reason: Every time it rains, water flows off our roads, parking lots and other paved spaces, laden with chemicals, oils, fertilizers and other pollutants. Most of this nasty muck runs right into our waterways and then into Puget Sound. Right now, we have the opportunity to protect Puget Sound from the single largest source of toxic pollution in our state - polluted runoff - while preventing expensive future clean- ups.
The state Department of Ecology is finalizing its stormwater permitting process for Western Washington. These updated rules guide cities and developers on how best to prevent polluted runoff. Green infrastructure (also known as low-impact development) helps prevent the flow by mimicking the ground's natural filtration systems. Trees and pervious pavements help absorb rainfall where it lands, rain gardens filter and break down pollution, and the simple act of maintaining existing green space prevents the problem from getting worse.
These low-impact development techniques have been tried, proven, and are working on the ground right now in places like West Seattle, Shoreline, Olympia and Puyallup. What's more, as cities and private industry are implementing these solutions, they are finding that they are also extremely cost-effective, delivering stormwater infrastructure such as rain gardens that actually helps sell homes, improve neighborhood vitality and increase investment returns.
Ecology's current draft municipal stormwater permits begin the work of incorporating these green infrastructure techniques into standard practice in our region. Some areas in the current draft permits still need work, but overall it signifies improvement in preventing pollution from entering our waters. This reflects the time Ecology has put into gathering input from cities, counties, shellfish growers, tribes, developers, water quality experts, builders and engineers.
Putting together smart ideas and feedback from experts across the state makes sense. What doesn't make sense is to begin to meddle with the permit before it is even finished. Despite the urgent need for a new approach, members of the state Legislature are trying to weaken the permit and/or delay the permit by several years. This makes no sense. The longer we wait the more pollution there will be to clean up, and the more it costs to protect Puget Sound.
We all know that prevention costs less than cleaning up afterward with public funds, which is why ensuring that we have a strong, smart permit is wise economic strategy for the challenging times we're facing. Incorporating green infrastructure into our polluted runoff strategies protects our working waterfronts, our fisheries, our quality of life and the thousands of jobs that depend on a healthy Sound.
We urge state legislators to let experts do their work so that we can all protect one of our state's crown jewels: Puget Sound.
Martha Kongsgaard is the chair of the Puget Sound Partnership Leadership Council. Peg Staeheli is a principal at SvR Design.
