Wellspring Conference Registration Now Open

You are invited to join top water operators, business leaders, water entrepreneurs, government policy makers and experts for the Wellspring Conference: Smart Water — Smart Solutions to be held October 24-25 at the Murano Hotel in Tacoma, Washington. This is a premier Pacific Northwest gathering focused on sustainable, integrated, and inclusive solutions to critical water problems and challenges.

You can expect inspiring speakers, expert panels, cutting edge water entrepreneurs, peer to peer roundtables, tours of state-of-the-art water research centers and plenty of networking opportunities. Among the topics:

• Optimizing water resources across entire watersheds such as Puget Sound to protect water quality, aquatic species, maritime and recreation.
• Latest water technologies developed by entrepreneurs.
• Wastewater treatment solutions including nutrient removal and emerging contaminants.
• Best practices in stormwater management including sensing, treatment, green infrastructure, weather management, modeling.
• Digital water including AI, data visualization, and decision support.
• Attracting and developing the next generation water workforce.
• Water-food-energy nexus such as urban vertical farms, replacing animal protein, renewable energy and water reuse.
• Building culture of innovation in the Pacific NW clean water ecosystem.

Wellspring will surface actionable solutions ready for your implementation. Thanks for your consideration and looking forward to seeing you there!

REGISTER NOW for the Wellspring Conference to receive the best rate.

Washington 2019-2024 Phase II Permit Compliance.

Western Washington MS4 Phase II 2019-2024 Permit Compliance table templates are available. The City of Battle Ground, Newcastle, and Thurston County/Gig Harbor have created compliance tables for the Phase II 2019-2024 permit available to Phase II permitees to use as a template for their jurisdictions.

• Wester Washington templates
• Eastern Washington templates

Washington State Municipal Stormwater Conference 2019 updates!

Thanks to everyone who came out and made The 2019 Washington Stormwater Center Municipal Conference a huge success! It was a great group of dedicated people sharing and learning and we hope that you all came away from the event excited to continue the important work that you do every day. We wanted to take the opportunity to share some of the numbers behind Municon 2019:

• 455 stormwater professionals registered for the event, maxing the capacity for our venue.
• 368 Municipal Permittees in attendance, 62 representing Eastern Washington and 344 from Western Washington.
• 36 presentations spanning 4 Tracks with 26 municipal lead/co-presenters.
• 4 interactive half day workshops on various stormwater subjects.

For those of you looking to revisit some of the information presented during the conference or if you were unable to attend this year, we are pleased to share the following resources:

The 2019 Washington State Municipal Stormwater Conference presentations and videos, along with the power point presentations are now available for view through the Washington Stormwater Center Website.

Conference presentations are posted under Conference Schedule & Abstracts. Click on "Day 1 Workshops" or "Day 2 Breakout Sessions" to find the presentation(s) you are looking for. You will also see a link to the WSC YouTube Channel for the video playlist. Videos are available for the Day 2 presentations only (the workshops were not videotaped).

You can also check out the Municon lunchtime slideshow, featuring work from 19 municipal stormwater projects completed by municipal permittees from across the state!

Thanks again and we look forward to seeing you all in 2021!

Washington Stormwater Center Online LID Training Program

We’re excited to announce the launch of the Washington Stormwater Center online LID Training Program! This multi-part curriculum will earn participants a Design Certificate, an Operations & Maintenance Certificate, or both. These courses offer a concise introduction to LID BMPs for Washington State as outlined in The Department of Ecology's Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington.

Upon completion of the course modules and assessments associated with the LID Design Certificate, participants will have the necessary knowledge to better communicate across disciplines when designing and installing LID practices. Completion of the certificate will also increase technical knowledge of LID BMPs, thereby improving the design, planning, implementation, and review of LID projects during all stages of development.

Completion of the Operations & Maintenance Certificate ensures participants will have the knowledge to adaptively manage LID practices for effective long-term performance. This Certificate provides essential operations and maintenance concepts associated with LID practices, and the technical knowledge to design a maintenance plan.

If you would like to earn both certificates, you will need to register for each one separately.

Register Now!

Washington Stormwater Center 2018 Annual Report

It's been a busy year for the Washington Stormwater Center! This year our research has taken center stage with groundbreaking findings on the pollutant problems caused by stormwater and innovative solutions to protect Washington's increasingly at risk waterways. We envision a future in which communities are knowledgeable about stormwater research and apply planning and tools to minimize flooding, protect clean water and promote thriving ecosystems.

View the full report.

The Washington Stormwater Center in the news!

Check out this story on K5 News featuring our very own Jennifer McIntyre discussing the dangers of stormwater runoff to coho salmon, as well as the solutions her research has helped uncover.

Dr. John Stark, Director of the Washington Stormwater Center Interviewed

Both Dr. Stark, also a Professor of Ecotoxicology with WSU, and Dr. Nat Scholz, Ecotoxicology Program Manager for NOAA Fisheries, were tapped for their expertise in a recent article published by The Center for Investigative Reporting. The final article focusing on the cessation of federal reviews of toxic pesticides can be read on the Reveal website.

Putting Science to Work

Stormwater is a growing threat to surface waters and aquatic organisms nationwide. In recent years, green stormwater infrastructure best management practices (BMPs) are increasingly being used to mitigate stormwater impacts. In this project, conducted by Washington State University and the Washington Stormwater Center, permeable asphalt and bioretention BMPs were evaluated for their potential to improve stormwater quality and quantity.

A summary detailing the basics of the research and findings (docx) is available on this site. For the entire report, or for questions about this project, please contact Lisa Rozmyn.

Registration for the Online Portion of the Hybrid LID Certificate Program is Open!

We are pleased to be offering a new year of the Hybrid Low Impact Development (LID) Certificate Program - formerly known as the Statewide LID Training Program! Beginning in 2018, the training program has transitioned from a solely in-person training system to a hybrid (online and in-person) system. The online, self-paced courses include the theoretical basis for designing and maintaining LID systems. The in-person trainings will provide critical practical skills and real-world examples taught by the foremost practicing experts in the field.

Learn more about the new program and register today

In-person trainings will be offered in the fall of 2018, with locations and dates to be determined.

Remember—you must register for both the in-person AND online portions of the certificate of your choice (LID Design and/or LID Operations & Maintenance) in order to receive that certificate. Working through the online curriculum is also required before attending the associated in-person trainings.

• Read the full details of the new hybrid system on the program webpage
• Register for the online portion of the LID Operations & Maintenance Certificate
• Register for the online portion of the LID Design Certificate

Don't forget to LIKE US on Facebook!

As part of our outreach efforts, we are now on Facebook and Twitter. Follow us to stay informed about everything happening at the Washington Stormwater Center, including upcoming events and activities!