$215 million is proposed for clean water projects across the state, including money locally.
The Department of Ecology is proposing to award $215 million in grants and loans for 89 high-priority clean water projects across the state.
The Water Quality Combined Funding Program is designed to support local communities by helping them upgrade wastewater treatment systems and sewer systems, manage polluted stormwater, and complete a variety of other projects to prevent and cleanup more diffuse sources of pollution also known as nonpoint pollution.
More than $172 million of the funding is for projects that will help support Puget Sound recovery by improving water quality and creating a healthier habitat for the endangered Southern Resident Orca, salmon, and their food web.
“These projects are vital to support Puget Sound recovery and protect our waters across the state,” said Heather Bartlett, Ecology’s Water Quality Program Manager. “Continued support from the legislature to fund these projects ensures Washingtonians clean water now and for future generations.”
Included in the project list is the potential for $397,500 to design improvements to the Aberdeen WWTP Headworks and Influent Pump Station and $130,250 to construct a new wastewater pump station facility in Hoquiam on Emerson Avenue.
This is only partial funding for the Grays Harbor projects, and further allocations are needed in the coming years.
DOE says that they always receive more project applications than we are able to fund amd they were only able to fund 54% of the need during this cycle.
In addition, State Centennial Clean Water Program grant resources were reduced in recent biennia. We use this funding for both wastewater-hardship projects and nonpoint pollution control projects. Some of these unfunded projects include small financially challenged communities with expensive wastewater infrastructure repair needs.
Nearly 90% of the funding the water quality program receives is passed through to local communities for environmental projects. Our clean water funding comes from a mix of state and federal funds dedicated for water quality improvements and protection. State financial managers calculate that 11 direct and indirect jobs are created in Washington for every $1 million spent on building clean water infrastructure. We encourage your comments on our draft list of projects as well as comments on our evaluation.
A public review and comment period on the Draft Funding List is open until 5:00pm on Feb. 17, 2020. We will hold a public meeting to present the Draft Funding List and discuss the project evaluation and funding process.
Public Meeting:
Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 10 a.m.
Pierce County Library
3005 112th Street East
Tacoma, WA
How to comment
Please email comments to:
Daniel Thompson
Department of Ecology
Water Quality Program – Financial Management Section
P.O. Box 47600
Olympia, WA 98504-7600
Email: [email protected]
All comments received during the comment period will receive a response and notify all commenters when we publish our Final Funding List around July 1.
More information
For more information, including access to an interactive map of funded projects and access to a worksheet describing the projects and funding proposed, please visit the Water Quality Combined Funding Program Funding Cycles webpage
