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Stormwater Monitoring Location to Evaluate Treatment Facility Effectiveness |
Stormwater Wet Pond |
The Water Quality Program provides guidance and technical support to planning, design, construction, and maintenance offices to help WSDOT enhance project delivery and achieve compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act, and State Water Quality Laws (RCW 90.48, WAC 173-201A, and WAC 173-270). |
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The 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act (CWA) extended the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program to include stormwater discharges. The primary objective of the Clean Water Act (CWA) is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters. The NPDES permit program is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) primary enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance with the CWA’s provisions. EPA regulations require NPDES permits for discharges from three broad categories of stormwater discharges:
WSDOT has permit coverage under all three of these categories.
In 1987, the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority issued the Puget Sound Water Quality Management Plan. This plan called for a Highway Runoff Program, which was subsequently developed by Ecology and codified in Chapter 173-270 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). This regulation established the basis for the management of stormwater runoff from transportation infrastructure to protect water quality in the Puget Sound basin.
Stormwater management is a complex task with a variety of regulatory drivers and constraints, involving numerous technical disciplines including hydraulics, hydrology, geology, and water quality. The relatively narrow linear nature of the highway network further constrains the use of conventional stormwater management approaches while also requiring safe access for maintenance of stormwater facilities. To help meet these challenges, WSDOT looks to stormwater research to help identify state-of-the-art, cost-effective solutions for designing, constructing, and maintaining stormwater management systems.
The WSDOT Erosion Control Program prevents erosion-related cost overruns, project delays, and protects the environment by providing training, technical assistance, and guidance materials to WSDOT staff and contractors.
The Water Quality Program can assist with the preparation and review of Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs) for Ferries, Aviation, and Rail divisions.
Under WAC 173-270 (adopted in 1991), WSDOT is required to inventory, prioritize, and retrofit all stormwater outfalls. Outfalls are locations where stormwater leaves the WSDOT right-of-way. Work is currently under way to inventory over 20,000 outfalls around the state. Information will be gathered into a database and will include a thorough assessment of the conditions at each outfall. The database will then automatically generate a priority list of outfalls that require retrofit. Recommendations for retrofit best management practices (BMPs) are also included as part of the overall prioritization score for each outfall. Information from this inventory will simultaneously benefit several WSDOT operations including:
Outfall information associated with Hydraulic Reports should be collected in accordance with the Hydraulic Staff Outfall Inventory Instructions. Enter the information into the Hydraulic Staff Outfall Inventory Spreadsheet and e-mail it to Jana Crawford or Richard Tveten. Any questions about this process should be addressed to Jana at 360-570-6649 or Richard at 360-570-6648.
The Water Quality Program provides the following services for the National Environmental Policy Act NEPA and Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA):
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Contact for this page: Mike Stephens |
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