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Surface Water Management (SWM) has received more than $8.5 million in grant awards in 2019. Grant funding supports 17 new and existing projects that span the next several years. More than $7.8 million are aimed at reducing road flooding, improving water quality and providing better fish passage, while nearly $780,000 address habitat restoration for endangered salmon. It’s good to know that your dollars go farther here.
 Grant funding continues to support restoration work in the Snohomish River estuary. Construction to restore tidal waters to Mid-Spencer Island east of Everett was completed in October. This 74 acre project is important because it helps provide a continuous connection to rearing habitat for young salmon.
SWM partners with a team of dedicated community volunteers to monitor the health of more than 30 of our local lakes. Five of these volunteers are celebrating 25+ years of service – meaning they have monitored their lake nearly 300 times! Their contributions provide invaluable information that has helped the county develop and fund lake restoration projects, prevent and eradicate harmful invasive species, and warn the public of potentially harmful toxic algae blooms. A big thank you goes out to all of the past and present lake volunteers. Read the recent Herald story here.
 Nancy Dean is one of our dedicated lake volunteers, collecting water quality data on Lake Martha (north of the Tulalip reservation) for more than two decades!
In October, SWM received a complaint from a resident in Bothell that a drainage system was overflowing and causing water to flow across his yard toward his home. Staff immediately responded, located the pipe blockage, and communicated the urgency for maintenance to Snohomish County Road Maintenance. County workers cleared the pipe the following day. If you are experiencing flooding and drainage problems, please call 425-388-3464 or submit a Drainage Investigation Request Form here.
 Water from a clogged drainage pipe was pooling in a resident's yard until county teams were notified.
Working with Lake Serene residents to mitigate flood risk, SWM completed the second phase of construction to upgrade the Lake Serene outlet and downstream drainage system. The lake's new drainage infrastructure will reduce property damage while preventing any adverse impacts to downstream property owners. More information about this multi-year project can be found here.
 Between Serene Way and Beverly Park Road, Konnerup Construction installed approximately 450 feet of drainage pipe on private and public property and built 240 feet of open channel on private property (shown here). Downstream stabilization measures were constructed by Snohomish County Road Maintenance and the Washington Conservation Corps (WCC).
The new State of Our Waters program provides Snohomish County residents and recreational users the ability to quickly find the health of over 60 local waterways including rivers, streams and lakes. Residents can discover information about water quality, habitat conditions, and the health of stream life. Additional stream sites will be added each year as the monitoring program just began for streams in 2017. Find a health report for your local river, lake or stream.
 In addition to sharing data with the public and our regional partners, SWM is using the information to track changes over time to identify problems and their causes. This allows the county to better focus resources where they are needed.
The SWM Capital Group is all about solving problems and utilizing solutions that serve multiple benefits. This year, SWM completed 12 capital projects that addressed numerous issues, including fish passage blockages, failing pipes, polluted road runoff, and flooded roads or properties. These included two low impact development (LID) projects – an infiltration chamber and a roadside ditch retrofit – that promote infiltration and improve water quality. Total construction cost for the 12 projects was $2.8 million. Construction work was completed by Snohomish County Road Maintenance and local contractors.
 One of five culvert replacement projects was completed at Menzel Lake Road near Granite Falls. Work was completed during July-August (2019).
 Menzel Lake Road project after construction of a new box culvert to replace a failing pipe and improve fish passage.
You are invited to a Starlight Beach Walk on January 21, 2020, exploring the beach and tidepools around the Edmonds marina. This night-time event is free and fun for all ages. Learn more about the beach walk and follow upcoming events and workshops by visiting our events page.
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