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There are no specific deadlines or actions required for continued compliance with section S5.C.6 for reporting year 2024
"The City shall have a program to inform and assist in the development of polices and strategies as water quality management tools to protect receiving waters".
Summary of Program Component and Permit Compliance Measures
Summary of Program Component and Permit Compliance Measures
The permit requires the City to implement a Stormwater Planning Program to inform and assist in the development of policies and strategies as water quality management tools to protect receiving waters.
Tacoma’s Environmental Services Department has recognized the need to partner with our community members to develop a watershed-based approach to meet the diverse needs of our neighborhoods and inform a variety of stormwater management actions identified in the SWMP. Now through the end of 2024, Tacoma’s Environmental Services Department will be finalizing Tacoma’s watershed management plan, the Urban Waters Protection Plan, to help identify and implement the most effective stormwater actions to protect our waterways, improve our neighborhoods, and provide healthy green spaces where they are needed most in Tacoma.
The City of Tacoma was awarded grant funding from the Department of Ecology to develop a watershed data mapping tool to assess watershed needs at the neighborhood level and identify and prioritize areas in the City that are most in need of targeted stormwater management actions. The mapping tool uses the Puget Sound Stormwater Heatmap with the addition of local GIS data to identify priority sub-basins for focused stormwater actions and water quality improvement projects, assess water quality performance, identify cost-effective strategies and integrate water quality decisions with community-based needs.
During 2023, the watershed planning team identified the top 25% of priority watershed sub-basins using the Watershed Prioritization Tool and generated a draft list of potential stormwater actions for each priority sub-basin based on stormwater pollution hotspots, receiving water conditions and neighborhood needs. In 2024, additional stakeholder and community engagement will be used to finalize the watershed priority action list. The City will also begin to pilot priority actions and pursue funding opportunities for future water quality improvement projects.
A watershed is an area of land that drains all streams, rainfall, and snowmelt to a common outlet such as a larger river, mouth of a bay, or any point along a stream channel. All surface water in our area drains from two regional watersheds: the Puyallup-White River Watershed and the Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed. These two watersheds are shaped and influenced by the natural landscape (like steep slopes, gulches, streams, wetlands, and shorelines), the built environment (like streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and other development), and the City’s Stormwater Collection System.
When pollutants enter our watershed through stormwater runoff contaminated with trash, yard chemicals, oil, soaps, pet waste, toxins, or other harmful sources, the negative effects can be measured and felt in every part of our environment.
The portions of our two regional watersheds located inside Tacoma city limits are also divided into nine sub-watersheds draining to local receiving waters, each with unique history, challenges, and opportunities for improvement.
Western Slopes
Drainage Area: 2,200 acres
Significant Waterbodies: Gold Creek, Narrows Creek, Crystal Creek, Crystal Springs Creek, Marinera Creek, Titlow Park Creek, Titlow Lagoon, Narrows Passage in Puget Sound
Northwest Tacoma
Drainage Area: 5,001 acres
Significant Waterbodies: Commencement Bay, Puget Creek, Mason Creek, Buckley Creek
Tideflats
Drainage Area: 2,615 acres
Significant Waterbodies: Middle Waterway, Sitcum Waterway, Blair Waterway, Wapato Creek, Puyallup River, Commencement Bay
Northeast Tacoma
Drainage Area: 3,385 acres
Significant Waterbodies: Hylebos Creek, Hylebos Waterway, Commencement Bay
Joe's Creek
Drainage Area: 434 acres
Significant Waterbodies: Dumas Bay, Joe’s Creek
Lower Puyallup
Drainage Area: 2,979 acres
Significant Waterbodies: Puyallup River, Swan Creek, First Creek
Foss Waterway
Drainage Area: 5,868 acres
Significant Waterbodies: Thea Foss Waterway, Wheeler-Osgood Waterway, Commencement Bay
Flett Creek
Drainage Area: 7,130 acres
Significant Waterbodies: Snake Lake, Wapato Lake, Ward’s Lake, Flett Wetlands, Flett Creek, Chambers Creek
Leach Creek
Drainage Area: 1,867 acres
Significant Waterbodies: China Lake, TCC campus wetlands, Leach Creek, Chambers Creek
Inter-Disciplinary Team (S6.C.6.a)
The inter-disciplinary team will include staff from many City departments and divisions and will be led by Environmental Programs Group Staff. The inter-disciplinary team was convened via online meetings July 27, 2020. Additional meetings of small groups within the IDT have also been convened.
In addition to formal IDT meetings, staff from Environmental Programs Group attends meetings for specific planning projects, planning commission meetings and provide technical assistance and comments on long-range plans that are led by other work groups within the City.
Coordination with long-range plan updates (S6.C.6.b.i.(a), (b))
Comprehensive Plans and other locally initiated or state mandated long-range land use plans that are used to accommodate growth or transportation shall be reviewed as required by the Permit. For these type of planning documents that are initiated or in process after August 1, 2019, the Environmental Programs Group will review and be involved throughout the development of the plans to ensure that, if appropriate, stormwater considerations are included in the plans. Environmental Programs Group is coordinating with departments throughout the City to ensure input is provided as appropriate. This coordination occurs through the IDT, small groups within the IDT, individual project managers and attending project and program meetings where these efforts are discussed.
Low impact development code-related requirements (S6.C.6.c)
All development codes and related regulatory requirements will be reviewed and evaluated to comply with this section. New development codes and regulatory requirements that are initiated during the current Permit term will be reviewed during development to ensure that no new barriers to low impact development are created or that the barriers are addressed to ensure that the Permit intent of making low impact development the preferred and commonly used approach to site development within Tacoma.
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