Overall Research Goals
The Washington Stormwater Center’s research aims to improve understanding of stormwater runoff impacts on biota, the efficacy of best management practices in reducing or eliminating those impacts, and improve water quality and animal/human health. These findings help communities use the most efficacious technologies, tools, and approaches and collaborate to address stormwater. The research also focuses on sources of stormwater and potential pollution prevention strategies.
Research Questions Answered
The Washington Stormwater Center’s research is focused on why stormwater runoff is toxic, how we can provide solutions to protect aquatic ecosystems from polluted runoff, and how we can engineer stormwater measures that are more efficient, cheaper, and self-sustaining. In addition, we look at individual substances routinely found in stormwater mixtures to evaluate the effects on aquatic invertebrates and vertebrates, including salmonid species. This testing allows us to explore the characteristics of runoff and identify the problems and the effectiveness of solutions such as Green Stormwater Infrastructure. This work encompasses ecotoxicology experiments, ecological engineering, extension/outreach, training, and evaluating the effectiveness of best management practices and continued experimentation at Washington State University’s Research and Extension Center at Puyallup, WA.
Research Collaboration
We collaborate with scores of scientists and subject matter experts, including those at other universities, state and federal agencies, tribes, and non-profits, to fund and conduct this critical 2 work. We provide training and education for our graduate students and post-doctoral researchers who are integral to our shared research and discoveries.
