US State Unveils Stormwater Funding

The Washington State Department of Ecology in the US has announced that it will extend $23m in grants to 43 cities and counties to design and build stormwater retrofit and low-impact development facility projects.

Under the stormwater retrofit and low-impact development competitive grants, the state will extend the money to cities, counties and ports covered by the state’s municipal stormwater permit.

The grants are expected to help protect streams, lakes and Puget Sound from polluted stormwater runoff.

The $23m grant is the second half of a $54m federal investment that was approved in 2010 to assist local governments with stormwater needs.

In 2010, the department distributed grants worth a total of $23.5m to 116 municipalities.