Open Houses on New Stormwater Project Priorities

With fall approaching San Juan County once again looks toward the rainy season.  Last year the season started with a shockingly large storm event that overwhelmed our Eastsound storm sewer system.  With that memory almost one year behind us the Stormwater Utility is moving into the final phase of County wide stormwater management planning.

The County’s Stormwater project has completed Volume 1 of the County Stormwater plan which describes the nature of 37 drainage basins in terms of the geology, hydrology, current land use and potential development.  Based on that information Volume 1 makes some broad suggestion for how to manage stormwater.

These range from developing more detailed plans in focus basins including Eastsound and Lopez Village to utilizing the treatment capacity available in existing ecological system such as wetlands, ponds and ditches.  More specifics regarding these and other recommendations are presented in the recommendations section of Volume 1.

What does that mean for you and the planning process?  Take a look at report and recommendations on the County web site and then come to one or more of the open house events scheduled during the week of September 15^th.  You will have an opportunity to ask questions of and suggest favorable options to the managers, scientists, citizens and engineers that are working on this plan.

Stormwater planners will also be unveiling the top 20 list of capital projects.  These are the projects that will be presented to the Citizens Stormwater Advisory Committee for final ranking and eventual construction.  This list was developed based on the results of volume 1, existing drainage plans, and issues reported through the stormwater issue website that was available to citizens earlier this year.

Open House Event Schedule:

Monday, September 15^th—San Juan – 915 Spring Street

Open House 4:30-6:30

Tuesday, September 16^th—Orcas – Fire Hall, 45 Lavender Lane

1^st Open House from 11:30-1:00

2^nd Open House from 4:00-6:00

Thursday, September 18^th—Lopez – Woodman Hall

Open House—4:00-6:30

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