Tumwater’s water resources and sustainability department secure grants toward pollution elimination and more

Tumwater’s water resources and sustainability department has secured over one million dollars in grants from the WA Department of Ecology (Ecology) during the previous weeks.

The latest of the grants is $130,000 from Ecology’s stormwater capacity grant program. The grant supports programs required to secure a permit from the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

NPDES regulates how water is discharged to bodies of water under federal jurisdiction.

The Public Works Committee recommended the approval of the grant agreement to the city council on Thursday, February 8.

Water Resources Specialist Dave Kangiser told the committee that they previously used the grant for public outreach, mapping, spill response, pollution source control, and business and construction-related inspection activities.

He added that the city had used the grant to purchase field equipment and dumpsters that they distributed to homeowner associations to help them manage their stormwater facilities.

The grant will support the city’s stormwater programs from July 1, 2023, through March 31, 2025.

Kangiser told the committee that he expects to secure a new NPDES permit by August. He said that the grant will be used to meet new requirements such as those on riparian and wetland areas, street sweeping, and the regulation of dissolved oxygen in Budd Inlet.

This grant, combined with three other grants the water resources department received around two weeks ago, amounts to around $987,000.

Water Resources Director Dan Smtih told the committee that his department also received $500,000 for the riparian restoration project in Pioneer Park, around $170,000 for the development of a nutrient reduction plan, and the remainder for the retrofitting of stormwater utilities in the Beehive Industrial Park.