The Blog

Jay Manning, Director of Department of Ecology

04/22/09

Tuesday night, in time for Earth Day 2009, PBS� “Frontline” aired a sobering documentary on America�s 30-year efforts to make our waters clean and healthy. “Poisoned Waters,” which focused on two great estuaries � Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound � should steel our collective resolve to clean up and protect Washington�s lakes, rivers and marine waters.

Polluted waters are close to home, wherever you live. What is your favorite stream, lake or marine waterway? If it�s near people, chances are we have to clean it up or to keep it clean.

In Washington, we�ve made progress in protecting our waters. We�ve made a quantum leap in science-based understanding of how water falling on impervious surfaces �roads, parking lots, rooftops, etc. � transports pollutants, including toxics, through drainage ditches and storm drains into our waterways. This makes storm water and polluted runoff the top water pollution problem in our urban areas.

Armed with this information and some of the toughest municipal, industrial and construction storm-water control requirements in the nation, we�ve accelerated the cleanup of our waters. We�re using innovative approaches such as low-impact development, toxic-product bans and wetland mitigation “banks” to achieve new levels of protection. In several regions, we have state and local “source control” specialists on the ground, visiting businesses and residential areas, advising businesses on pollution control measures, helping businesses get the permits they need and making sure permit requirements are being met.

We have taken extraordinary steps to restore Puget Sound to good health by 2020. The Puget Sound Partnership, led by Bill Ruckelshaus and David Dicks, has completed the first edition of the Action Agenda, which describes what we need to do to achieve our 2020 goal. As difficult as preparing the Action Agenda was, implementing it will be more difficult still. Gov. Gregoire and I have worked hard to protect significant state investments in Puget Sound restoration even through these difficult economic times. We are absolutely committed to saving Puget Sound, and know this commitment is shared with our citizens.

I am proud of our progress, but we have more to do. It will take all of us working together to get the job done. You and I, all of us, are the sources � and the solution � to our polluted waters.

Find out more about protecting Washington�s waters: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/washington_waters/. Together, we can achieve the promise of the Clean Water Act.