Abstract
With the projected increase of urban development in the Puget Sound region, a corresponding decrease in natural drainage will occur, leading to greater amounts of stormwater flowing into vital receiving waters. As a result, the Washington State Pollution Control Hearing Board (PCHB) has recently directed the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) to implement low impact development (LID) in its national pollution discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit requirements. This directive has created an opportunity for new policies and mitigation strategies to be developed within local jurisdictions. In order to identify potentially useful stormwater management strategies, this study examines mitigation plans being developed in four Washington State jurisdictions: Bellevue, King County, Renton, and Seattle. These four cases are presented to highlight the complicated issues behind developing and implementing stormwater strategies by exploring the relationships between the PCHB and the DOE and their influences on jurisdiction regulations. The PCHB ruling directs DOE to develop new requirements that call for Phase I jurisdictions to direct money and time into researching LID strategies and the corresponding adjustments that must be made in their building ordinances to adhere to permit requirements. These cases from King County, Washington highlight differences in expectations between jurisdictions, economic gaps, and general uncertainty involved in implementing new strategies with few experienced LID practitioners.
Published Version
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