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Liberty Bay Foundation’s Barrantes, Katie Arthur (left) and Bill Austin (far right) show Poulsbo city council members Mike Regis, Kathryn Quade, and Jackie Aitchison (center) stormwater runoff into Nelson Park

   The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stormwater rule will have far-reaching ramifications for Kitsap County. The issuance on December 8, 1999 started the clock ticking, with municipalities and industry professionals scurrying, to understand its implications.
   As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase I permit program (In effect since 1990) controlled water pollution by regulating point sources that discharged pollutants into waters impacting communities with over 100,000 people. This included Seattle, Tacoma, unincorporated areas of King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.
   Phase II of the NPDES storm water program will expand permitting requirements to include the small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) serving populations less than 100,000 within an “urbanized area” that has a total population of 50,000 or more and a density of 1,000 persons per square mile.
   These urbanized areas often include different jurisdictions and were based on US census counts. The 2000 census identified urban concentrations under the rule to include the four cities — Bainbridge Island, Poulsbo, Bremerton, Port Orchard and Silverdale in unincorporated Kitsap County.
   Under Phase II, these areas will be required to apply for a NPDES municipal stormwater permit by March 10, 2003.
   Storm water management has been put on the back burner for years in small to medium concentrated urban areas. Storm water management just isn’t as visible of a priority to communities as the repair of roads, or police and fire protection. As a result, storm water systems in these communities are decrepit and in need of repair while increasing development have increased runoff problems and overloaded existing systems.
   Jackie Aitchison, Poulsbo City Councilwoman serving on the Puget Sound Water Quality Council as the sole representative for the cities in Washington State, has been following these developments for some time.
   “The intent of Phase II is to develop a comprehensive stormwater program that will address stormwater runoff issues that were not covered under Phase I. The Puget Sound Water Quality Work Plan identified actions local government can take to plan and implement this program Sound-wide,” she explained.
   “As partners with other state agencies in the initial implementation of the NPDES program, it is important that we evaluate our involvement with Phase II. It will be more comprehensive and may present some unique opportunities for the cities to come into compliance. We can set limits on quantity and quality of stormwater to achieve no net increase of run-off and improve the quality of that which reaches surface waters,” Aitchison said.
   The impact of the rule will be far-reaching because the definition of what constitutes a MS4 includes any method of conveying surface water, including streets, gutters, ditches, swales, or any other manmade structure that alters or directs wet-weather flows.
   “Poulsbo will consider implementing designs for new development and where no stormwater infrastructure exists, similar to that of Seattle’s “Sea Street Program” that retrofits old, established neighborhoods utilizing basic principles of low impact development such as raingardens and alternative treatment. This will reduce volumes municipalities will have to handle while improving the quality of the end products in that run-off. I’m really excited over the challenges and possibilities this will offer,” added Aitchison. “It also presents great opportunities for citizens and government to become aware of how what we do on our properties impacts the watershed where we live.”
   While six Phase II counties were identified, only their urban portions require Phase II coverage, creating potential implementation problems.
   Kitsap County Commissioner Chris Endresen has overseen the revamping of new road maintenance procedures, originally in response to NMFS exemptions, which will put the county one step ahead in Phase II compliance by reducing contamination from stormwater runoff.
   “Our staff did an excellent job working with several other counties on new road maintenance procedures that are much gentler on the environment and get the job done as well. This collaborative effort serves the dual purpose of complying with NPDES, is fish friendly, and is a progressive way to handle routine road maintenance. As we grow, we need to insure that we protect our water quality,” Endresen said.
   By having the foresight to plan in advance, municipalities and others affected by these regulations, such as construction-site operators, will be able to promote the long-term quality of local water resources while inevitably reducing the cost of compliance. Localized solutions and micromanagement&Mac226; of stormwater at its source, will actually save taxpayer dollars as a result, by reducing the amount requiring treatment.
   The Kitsap County Health District Outreach Coordinator, Mindy Fohn, is working with municipalities to comply with two of the six minimum measures encouraging collaboration and partnership with local watershed groups.
   As part of the first requirement, Public Education and Outreach, a series of workshops Jan. 14 and 30 to educate the public about the impacts of stormwater discharges on receiving waters and what individuals can do to prevent stormwater pollution was presented by Dr. Chris May. The presentations were sponsored by the Liberty Bay Foundation as part of a DOE-EPA 319 grant-funded project.
   These non-profit groups are also a ready resource for the second, public participation and involvement. This measure must include a procedure for giving the public an opportunity to actually participate in both the development and implementation of a stormwater program. Other groups, such as Chums of Barker Creek, Illahee Community Club, Kitsap Poggies, and Kitsap Trees, whose missions involve watershed recovery, are poised to join in these efforts.
   For more information on the NPDES Storm Water Program go to the official EPA site at: http://cfpub1.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/swphase2.cfm.