Washougal surveys community about stormwater projects

The City of Washougal is asking residents to provide feedback about its options to improve its stormwater system.

As part of its developing stormwater master plan (SMP), the City has identified 10 stormwater capital projects that possess aging and/or inadequate infrastructure or designs, factors that could be contributing to ponding, hazardous maintenance conditions, or poor water quality, and listed them on a survey that it sent out to community members earlier this month.

City staff will select three projects based on the severity of the problem and the benefits of the proposed solution. Residents are invited to select three preferred projects to help city staff prioritize their selections.

“We don’t want to surprise people,” Washougal Mayor David Stuebe said. “We want their buy-in to it. It’s just being transparent and letting them know … we’ll take their feedback.”

The options include: Addy Street flood reduction; 39th Street and Evergreen Way drainage improvement; Addy Street stormwater facilities rehabilitation; North “P” Street stormwater facility rehabilitation; “C” Street high-risk drywells retrofit; “I” Street high-risk drywells retrofit; “W” Street and 36th Street stormwater facility safety improvements; South “A” Street drainage improvement; “H” Street and 34th Street high-risk drywells retrofit; and Ninth Street drainage improvement.

The city’s system is designed to gather stormwater runoff and discharge it to local streams and rivers, according to its website. The city maintains and inspects more than 2,000 catch basins and field inlets, nearly 45 miles of pipes and ditches, more than 340 stormwater treatment and flow-control facilities, 220 dry wells and 100 outfalls.

“It’s always going to be a continual process,” Stuebe said of updating and enhancing the stormwater system. “But we’re going to need some more funding for that — there’s maintenance, upgrades and federal requirements that we have to increase our standards to. It’s just going to be an ongoing thing.”

To view project descriptions and fill out the survey, visit bit.ly/Washou galSMPsurvey. The survey will close Tuesday, Aug. 22.