No I’m not talking about the elections, but rather the water that falls from the sky onto our houses and through our streets before rushing back to the creeks. Beaver observers last year were stunned at the amount of oil and debris that high flow produced.
Half of U.S. water pollution comes from storm water run-off. In Seattle, it’s responsible for more than 70 percent of the zinc and copper that winds up in Puget Sound, heavy metals that are toxic and kill Sockeye, King and Coho salmon, protected under the Endangered Species Act.
So last year, some smart lawyers from Earth Justice convinced the Washington State Pollution Board that this was a violation of the federal 1972 Clean Water Act and demanded more regulation. Guess what? They won.
Now, in a landmark decision, a Washington state pollution board has ruled that flow of polluted water must be reduced. And to do that, the very way that new homes and neighborhoods are built must be changed. The ruling requires developers, like Linda Pruitt of suburban Seattle, use low-impact development strategies, or LIDS, on the homes they build, strategies that limit how much rainwater flows off of them.
There has been alot of talk about impermeable surfaces and additional housing in Martinez. Did you know the roof of your home actually contributes to water pollution? And the bigger the house, the bigger the roof and the more damage it does to the runoff. Think about that when you consider some of the monster homes built in Martinez over the past years.
Now developers in Kings county and beyond are scrambling for the brightest and best inexpensive technologies, like rooftop gardens or the downspout leading to a thirsty swale of plants. These are long-term solutions with immediate benefits. Remember the parking lot project the ESA students are working on downtown? The idea is to hold and filter water long enough to clean it up before it gets back to the creek.
Here’s my favorite part of the news story from the PBS newshour:
The new ruling, for now, applies only in larger cities in western Washington. But as it’s an interpretation of the federal Clean Water Act, there’s a chance it could be required in the other 49 states, as well.
Lets hope, eh? It would be great for beavers, and their humans protectors too.
