More than a dozen locally-sponsored water quality improvement and environmental enhancement projects across Washington will receive up to $50,000 in state grant funding to benefit state residents.
The Department of Ecology is awarding nearly $450,000 to fund 14 different projects: Six are located in eastern Washington, five in western Washington and another three are considered to be of statewide significance that will significantly improve the natural environment in multiple watersheds.
During the current fiscal year – July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018 – the grants will pay for a variety of projects such as installing livestock fencing to keep animals out of critical streams, replacing invasive plants with native vegetation in important floodplains and wetlands, and placing woody debris in streams and rivers to recreate salmon habitat.
The grants are funded through Ecology’s Terry Husseman Account designed to help local governments, conservation and port districts, tribal governments, fisheries enhancement groups, and other state agencies pay for a variety of environmental projects.
The Terry Husseman Account is funded by payments from penalties the department issues for violations of the state Water Pollution Control Act. The account is named after long-time Ecology deputy director Terry Husseman who died in 1998 and honors contributions in the field of environmental management.
Ecology evaluated 27 different project submittals worth about $945,000. The department weighed each proposal’s expected environmental benefits, local support and involvement, cost effectiveness, and readiness of the project to proceed and be completed on time and on budget.
Terry Husseman Account grant awards for 2017-18 funding cycle
Central Washington
(includes Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Kittitas, Klickitat, Okanogan and Yakima counties)
| Organization | Project name | Amount | How the grant will be funded |
| Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group | Coleman Creek River Mile 3.8 Water Quality Improvement | $32,141 | The fisheries enhancement group will fund water quality, floodplain function and habitat improvements on Coleman Creek in Kittitas County. Work to include removing two dilapidated buildings and restoring the site to natural conditions. Community volunteers will help revegetate the disturbed area. |
Eastern Washington
(includes Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla and Whitman counties)
| Organization | Project name | Amount | How the grant will be funded |
| Pomeroy Conservation District | Blachly Deadman Creek Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) Partnership | $29,500 | To improve water quality in Deadman Creek in Garfield County, the conservation district will install off-stream water systems for livestock and heavy use areas. CREP project funds will pay for installation of 2.5 miles of livestock exclusion fencing. |
| Spokane Conservation District | Hangman Creek Partnership | $17,000 | To improve water quality in Spokane County’s Little Hangman Creek, the conservation district will install 1,500 feet of livestock exclusion fencing, and put in off-stream water systems and heavy use areas to protect about 2,300 feet of stream corridor from livestock impacts. |
| Walla Walla County Conservation District | Williams Buffer Phase 1 | $26,300 | To prevent livestock access to about 100 feet of Little Mud Creek in Walla Walla County, the conservation district will install 1,700 feet of livestock exclusion fencing and revegetate the riparian area by planting native plants in the stream channel and shrub berries and arid plants in the upland area. |
| Whitman Conservation District | Alkali Creek Exclusion | $24,250 | To improve water quality in Whitman County’s Alkali Flat Creek, the conservation district will plant native riparian vegetation, install 2,270 feet of livestock exclusion fencing, put in off-stream water systems and heavy use areas, and establish a 50-foot buffer to protect about 1,135 feet of stream corridor from livestock impacts. |
| Pomeroy Conservation District | Beale Meadow Creek Livestock BMP | $21,957 | To improve water quality of Meadow Creek in Garfield County, conservation district will install 2,200 feet of livestock exclusion fencing to prevent livestock access to creek’s riparian areas and a small spring-fed tributary. |
Northwest Washington
(includes Island, King, Kitsap, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties)
| Organization | Project name | Amount | How the grant will be funded |
| King County Water and Land Resources Division | Boise Creek Riparian Restoration – Enumclaw Golf Course | $40,000 | King County will use grant funding to improve water quality and habitat within and adjacent to Boise Creek by replacing invasive vegetation with native trees and shrubs. |
| Skagit Conservation District | Wilson Riparian Planting and Neighbor Outreach | $18,500 | To improve water quality in Skagit County’s Bulson Creek, a priority sub-basin that drains to south to Skagit Bay, the conservation district will install 2.18 acres of riparian plantings along a wetland buffer to the creek. |
| Snohomish County-Public Works Department | Native Trees Restoration in the Pilchuck | $25,000 | Snohomish County will improve water quality in the Pilchuck River by planting about five acres of native trees and shrubs. The project builds upon previous efforts to control knotweed and restore salmon habitat. |
Southwest Washington
(includes Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, Skamania, Thurston and Wahkiakum counties)
| Organization | Project name | Amount | How the grant will be funded |
| Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group | Toutle River Critical Fish Habitat Enhancement | $27,000 | The fisheries group will improve stream and riparian habitats in the Toutle River watershed by purchasing and placing high-quality large woody debris and bare root stock for fish habitat projects in multiple lower Columbia River tributaries. The entity also will use Salmon Recovery Funding Board funding to improve stream and riparian habitats in the watershed. |
| Jefferson County Public Works | Lower Big Quilcene Floodplain Demolitions and Replanting | $35,810 | Jefferson County will help restore natural functions in the lower three miles of the Big Quilcene River. The project includes removing structures, household materials and vehicles, and decommissioning wells to protect surface and shallow groundwater in the river's floodplain. Grant funds will be used to match a state Salmon Recovery Funding Board grant to help purchase and restore selected floodplain properties as protected open space. |
Statewide Significance
(These projects are of statewide significance because they are designed to improve the overall water quality of Puget Sound or other regional water bodies.)
| Organization | Project name | Amount | How the grant will be funded |
| Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission | Dash Point/Saltwater State Parks – Invasive Species Removal and Stream Restoration | $50,000 | To enhance salmon habitat on stream reaches in Puget Sound, State Parks will hire a Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) crew to remove invasive plant species and restore function to two small urban watersheds. |
| Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission | Hope Island State Park – Invasive Species Removal and Habitat Enhancement | $50,000 | State Parks will hire a WCC crew to remove and reduce populations of invasive woody and non-woody plant species on Hope Island in Puget Sound. The invasive species have threatened the integrity and function of forest and rocky prairie habitats. |
| Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission | Central and Eastern State Parks – Restoration and Enhancement | $50,000 | To improve the water quality at several state parks in Central and Eastern Washington, the state commission will hire a WCC crew to properly manage or eradicate noxious weeds, address erosion impacts due to informal roads and other land disturbances, construct livestock exclusion fencing and plant native species in riparian zones. |
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