Project in Fairwood to receive grant funding for water quality enhancement

December 14, 2015

Summary

The funds from the grant will go toward helping to replace the stormwater pipe, opening up over 7,000 feet of stream channel for migrating fish and preventing a major collapse.

Story

Efforts to replace a deteriorating pipe that could cause Molasses Creek to flood Fairwood West’s neighborhood park and surrounding areas is the recipient of a $45,000 King County grant, that focuses on improving and investing in better water quality by providing funding for organizations to take action in their communities.

“It’s always good to see a project that both protects homeowners from flooding while at the same time improves the quality of our water,” said Councilmember Reagan Dunn, who represents the Fairwood community on the County Council. “These grant funds will benefit the overall water quality of the community as well providing sustainable watershed protection for years to come.”

Stormwater around Molasses Creek is currently collected by a failing pipe system owned by the Fairwood West Homeowners Association that conveys Molasses Creek under the HOA’s Park. Total pipe failure may cause flooding upstream and sedimentation downstream.

The funds from the grant will go toward helping to replace the stormwater pipe, opening up over 7,000 feet of stream channel for migrating fish and preventing a major collapse. Without this grant award and two previous grants totaling $800,000 that Councilmember Dunn helped to secure from the King County Flood Control District, fixing the failed pipe without assistance would have placed a severe financial hardship on the homeowners of Fairwood West.

“The residents of Fairwood West are thankful for a Waterworks Grant that Reagan Dunn has secured for the repair of a failing pipe carrying Molasses Creek,” said Adrian Ryneveld, past President of the Fairwood West HOA and current Molasses Creek Project Manager for the HOA. “Councilmember Dunn has been repeatedly instrumental in obtaining funds that support the design and construction of this critical project.”

When adopted by the County in 1998, the Regional Wastewater Services Plan (RWSP) included a financial policy that specified the allowable use of up to one and one-half percent of the annual Wastewater Treatment Division’s operating budget for the purpose of “water quality improvement activities, programs and projects.” As part of the adopted 2015-2016 Biennial Budget, the Council approved funds for non-sewage treatment related water quality improvement activities, programs and projects.

The funds were available to governments, agencies and programs throughout King County. The projects were selected based on recommendations from the Metropolitan Pollution Abatement Advisory Committee (MWPAAC)—a panel that advises the King County Council and Executive on matters related to water pollution abatement – that projects benefit water quality and ratepayers within the Wastewater Treatment Division’s service area.