Summary

Nearly $350,000 of the $2.4 million in direct King County Council allocations went to organizations and projects that benefit King County Council District 4 and King County as a whole.

Story

The King County Council on Wednesday approved $4.5 million in grants to improve water quality across King County. Nearly $350,000 of the $2.4 million in direct King County Council allocations went to organizations and projects that benefit King County Council District 4 and King County as a whole.

“I’m pleased to have been able to secure funding for programs and cutting-edge research that will improve water quality in District Four and throughout our region,” said Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles. “Our livelihood and the livelihood of marine life in Puget Sound, especially our southern resident killer whales, are threatened by water pollution from a variety of sources. We must be proactive to mitigate this damage and keep our waters clean.”

The grants, administered through the WaterWorks Grant Program, will provide funding to 28 projects within the King County regional wastewater system.

Awarded every two years, the grants go to a variety of organizations, including non-profits, schools, cities, counties, tribes and special purpose districts. Funds often bridge the gaps needed to bring partially funded projects to completion.

Five grants were awarded to projects and organizations working for water quality improvements to benefit District 4:

• $83,780 University of Washington Green Futures Labs - The purpose of the Floating Shorelines Project is to explore and evaluate the potential for using innovative constructed floating wetland designs to create near-shore wetlands to enhance salmon habitat while improving water quality. This proposal for the Floating Shorelines Project: Research and Innovation will fund the deployment and monitoring of an innovative floating shoreline design called a “Smoltboat.”
• $85,000 University of Washington at Bothell Floating Treatment Wetlands - Floating Treatment Wetlands (FTWs) are an innovative approach in urban areas to improve stormwater quality at the entry site into the lake, stream or river system. Very few studies have gauged the effect of FTW’s on water quality when placed within the receiving waterbody at the point of entry of untreated stormwater. This research can potentially provide a solution to our urban stormwater pollution problem.
• $90,220 2030 District – Seattle 2030 members have made a commitment to manage 50% of the stormwater runoff from their buildings using green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) tools. This project will make progress on that commitment as well as engage non-members to achieve this goal at District scale by catalyzing stormwater management at existing sites, which have not triggered stormwater code, and explore a stormwater credit program so buildings invest in critical zones if unfeasible on-site. The results of which will mitigate pollution from stormwater, increase sustainable potable water use, as well as promote the conservation of critical zones that have traditionally not been recipients of green investments.
• $47,000 Pacific Science Center Mercer Slough - This award supports the science center’s Lake Washington Watershed Internship Program (LWWIP) based at the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center in Bellevue (MSEEC).
• $40,000 Long Live the Kings - This proposal will result in identification of potential feasible alternatives to reduce effects of high temperatures/low dissolved oxygen concentrations in the Lake Washington Ship Canal. Stakeholders will understand what technologies and engineering solutions may be available to improve conditions during key migratory periods, and roughly at what costs.