Clean Water State Revolving Fund

Location: Statewide
CWSRF Investment: $60 million (since 2016)

Ecology partners with nonprofit lender Craft3 to provide access to Clean Water Loans through the On-site Septic System (OSS) Regional Loan Program.

Since the program’s establishment in 2016, over 2,200 septic system repairs and replacements have been supported, an investment of over $60 million across the state. Nearly 40% of borrowers are low-income households who likely would not have had access to financing without this program.

CWSRF plays a vital role in making this work possible. Lower interest rates and forgivable principal loans create the flexibility needed to reach families who otherwise could not address failing septic systems. Aside from limited alternatives available through USDA Rural Development, the OSS Regional Loan Program is the only statewide assistance option for septic repair or replacement in Washington.

This collaboration with Craft3 demonstrates how SRF funding, combined with strong partnerships, not only protects water quality but also provides critical support to the people and communities of Washington.

Location: Pasco
CWSRF Investment: $35 million

Approximately $35 million from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) supported the City of Pasco’s upgrades to their Process Water Reuse Facility in state fiscal year 2024.

The Pasco facility holds processed wastewater in large storage ponds during the winter and uses fields during the spring, summer, and fall as a land treatment system to recycle the water back into the land. It’s estimated the facility currently treats more than a billion gallons of water annually. Ecology's funding has helped expand the winter storage ponds, allowing more businesses to send wastewater to the facility.

Check out our 2025 blog post to learn more about this project.

Location: Thornton Creek Basin, Northeast Seattle
CWSRF Investment: $12 million, $105,600 emerging contaminants control funding

This project provides water quality treatment for street runoff that drains to Thornton Creek and addresses localized flooding issues by retrofitting multiple residential blocks with natural drainage systems (also referred to as bioretention cells). 43 bioretention cells were constructed to treat pollutants typically found in stormwater runoff, such as total suspended solids (TSS), oil (total petroleum hydrocarbons), dissolved copper and zinc, and 6PPD, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, and fecal coliform. The South Thornton Natural Drainage System project is a critical step in maintaining the progress that has been made in the watershed and will protect Thornton Creek as a vital salmon spawning habitat.

Location: Busy Wild Creek headwaters
CWSRF Investment: $12.6 million

Mashel River is the primary salmon-spawning tributary of the Nisqually River, located in the foothills of Mount Rainier. The Mashel River is an important site for salmon habitat and serves as the direct source of water for the Town of Eatonville and is the indirect source for many rural residents. The largest sub-basin and headwaters for the Mashel River is the Busy Wild Creek, which is a declared federal critical habitat site for spawning and rearing of the listed Endangered Species: Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Trout. The forests around these headwaters are commercially logged, and sections of the forest remain in a state of recovery from massive clear-cut logging from the early and mid-1900s. These practices impact the headwaters by reducing water retention, elevating stream temperatures, reducing the woody-debris accumulation needed for spawning habitat, and through extensive sedimentation that fills spawning pools.

These impacts to the river affect the Nisqually River Basin, which is home to the Nisqually Indian Tribe. Salmon is a prominent part of the Nisqually culture, and they rely on treaty-reserved fishing rights to sustain their fishing practices in the river. To restore river quality and salmon habitat in these headwater forests, the Nisqually Tribe received a $14.2 million loan from the Washington State Department of Ecology to purchase 1,240 acres of land along the North Fork of Busy Wild Creek. This land purchase adjoins next to nearly 3,000 acres of forested land managed by the Nisqually Land Trust and the Nisqually Community Forest. Future forest growth will permanently protect the entirety of the Busy Wild Creek headwaters and help restore critical salmon habitat for the Mashel River.

Location: Ferndale
CWSRF Investment: $33 million

Approximately $33 million in CWSRF loans successfully supported major upgrades to the Ferndale Wastewater Treatment Plant by helping replace aging infrastructure and improve the wastewater treatment process.

The main water bodies impacted by the facilities’ wastewater discharge are the Nooksack River, Bellingham Bay, and Portage Bay. The improvements made to the wastewater treatment plant have helped reduce pollution and bacteria that can harm aquatic life and human health, while also preparing the treatment plant to handle future population growth and changing environmental conditions.

Cleaner water in the Nooksack River means healthier habitat for salmon, safer shellfish beds in Portage Bay, and stronger protection for the cultural and economic traditions of the Lummi and Nooksack Tribes, who have fished and harvested shellfish in these waters since time immorial.

By investing in projects like this, CWSRF supports cleaner water, healthier communities, and a more sustainable future for Washington.