Howdy OGD Partners,

At our September meeting we heard from Peter Donaldson and the Sustainability Ambassadors.

They are offering a 4-Part, Green Duwamish Watershed Curriculum Design Lab this fall while the salmon are returning home expecting it to be there when they arrive. Share with your network of teachers, school principals, and curriculum coordinators. The series is open to secondary teachers in all disciplines plus Non-Formal Environmental Educators. STEM clock hours are available!

REGISTRATION: Participants can register for one, some, or all of the offerings on the Sustainability Ambassadors’ EVENTS PAGE.  See below and spread the word!  

MY GREEN DUWAMISH WATERSHED 

WHEN: Saturday, October 21, 9:00-12:00 (Zoom) REGISTER

DESCRIPTION: Practice problem-based learning at the nexus of watershed ecology, salmon stewardship, urban planning, and equity outcomes, empowering youth agency and ownership of their unique “watershed address.” Participants explore a series of lesson frameworks including: (1) mapping my watershed address, 2) analyzing equity demographic maps; (3) analyzing case studies of environmental engineering for improved salmon habitat, (4) designing green stormwater infrastructure improvements, and (5) establishing adopt-a-site pedagogies for engaging students in ecological restoration near their school.

Expert Webinar #1

Engineering Fish Passage at the Howard Hanson Dam

WHEN: Wednesday, November 1, 4:00-5:30 (Zoom) REGISTER

DESCRIPTION: Apply systems thinking to understand the issues around fish passage at the Howard Hanson Dam including engineering design, salmon ecology, flood control, water supply, and treaty rights. Special guest: Nik Novotny, Fish Biologist from Tacoma Water.

Expert Webinar #2

Restoring Habitat Above the Dam 

WHEN: Wednesday, November 8, 4:00-5:30 (Zoom) REGISTER

DESCRIPTION: Apply systems thinking to understand the issues around improving the complex, multi-partner ecosystem above the Howard Hanson Dam for fish and wildlife species including salmon, elk, and deer. Special guest: Natalie Schmidt, Restoration Biologist from Tacoma Water.

Expert Webinar #3

Climate Change and Water Supply Forecasting   

WHEN: Wednesday, November 15, 4:00-5:30 (Zoom) REGISTER

DESCRIPTION: Apply systems thinking to understand how local climate models are used on a daily basis to forecast how much water we need to manage for drinking, salmon, treaty rights, recreation, and flood control. Special guest: Climatologist from WA Snow Survey.

Thank You Partners! King County Wastewater Treatment Division, WaterWorks Grant Program, King County Flood Control District, Mid-Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group, Tacoma Public Utilities

Email Peter Donaldson with questions, insights, or new connections: peter@sustainabilityambassadors.org

I hope everyone is having a relaxing summer. The OGD Coalition has been on a summer break as well, and while Partners haven’t been meeting, the Core Team has been preparing for a very busy fall.

Starting in September, we will reconvene to discuss a number of items including, but not limited to:

• Social media and engagement strategy. The Coordination subgroup and Core Team have been developing a communications plan to promote and amplify stormwater management work being done by partners in the watershed.
• Kick off of the Ecology grant funded development of the OGD Mapping tool. For more information about this effort see our past blog post.
• Organizational structure proposals. Looking ahead to completing our workplan objective of a prioritized list of stormwater retrofit locations – how should we plan to fund and construct these projects? What agreements need to be in place to facilitate retrofits and define the roles and responsibilities of OGD Partners?

We’re also looking forward to hearing about additional resources and technical assistance opportunities from outside organizations.

I’m sorry to be thinking about the end of summer, but excited to reconvene this group.

Sincerely,

Todd

Greetings,

We’re pleased to share the 2022 OGD Annual Report.

We’re particularly excited about how this report reflects the tremendous amount of collaboration, innovation, and effort to manage stormwater in the watershed.

The annual report is divided into two parts:

Goal Sheets – The goals are a foundational component of the Watershed-Wide Stormwater Strategy and highlight actions designed to achieve specific outcomes. Actions were self assigned by Partners for their own work, and each goal’s section of the report summarizes the Coalition’s success.

Governance Dimensions – The Coalition is committed to embracing self-reflection in the pursuit of continuous improvement. Part of this effort includes a survey designed by Partners, for Partners. The results are divided into five specific categories (called dimensions), each one detailing survey responses on what worked well, where we can improve on our strengths, and our ability to adapt to changing conditions.

In an effort to broaden participation we have implemented a stipend program – with funding from Urban Waters federal Partnership, so if you’re interested in learning more about how you can get involved, please email us.

We’re looking froward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Todd

We want to welcome two new Basin Stewards to the watershed. Basin Stewards are knowledgeable about the communities and natural resources in specific King County watersheds. The Basin Stewards work with residents and technical staff to develop and implement priority habitat protection and restoration projects in critical salmon habitat areas along our rivers and streams. Learn more about the King County Basin Steward Program, including how they can help you and what services they help provide in their regions.

We have two new King County Basin Stewards in our Green/Duwamish watershed. Kelley Govan is the Lower Green River Basin Steward. The Lower Green extends approximately from Auburn to Tukwila and includes surrounding areas.

Alicia Kellogg is the new Duwamish River Basin Steward. The Duwamish River Basin Steward’s service area includes the Duwamish River (downstream of the Lower Green River) from Tukwila to Elliot Bay and includes the urban incorporated areas of North Highline and Skyway. The Duwamish River Basin Steward is funded through an inter-local agreement between the county, Port of Seattle, and the cities of Seattle and Tukwila, with additional support from WRIA 9.

We are thrilled to have Kelley and Alicia join our team and support the work of the Green/Duwamish Coalition. Welcome!

King County completed work on this story map at the end of 2022:

If you’re interested in learning more about the history of source control along the river, I would encourage you to take a look.

Thank you to the King County Wastewater Treatment Division for developing this story map!

-Todd

Greetings regional stormwater partners:

King County and our regional partners are excited to share the registration link and high-level agenda for the next event in the Stormwater Summit series, Aligning Across Watersheds: Regional Stormwater Technical Workshops. The event will be virtual and occur from 9AM-12PM on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 1^st and 2^nd.

This interactive event will focus on:

• Co-designing aspirational, regional stormwater management goals – setting implementation targets that we, as practitioners, can commit to at the watershed scale
• Identifying barriers to achieving those goals
• Elevating new planning tools that will help inform more strategic stormwater investments, and
• Identifying the roles each of our organizations and jurisdictions can play to contribute to those goals

On Day One, we’ll connect the dots back to the May 2021 Stormwater Summit and introduce potential goals statements that we, as a region, could commit to. We’ll then engage participants in evaluating those goals statements – what resonates, what’s missing, and what barriers we face in achieving those targets.

On Day Two, we’ll recap the input received on Day One, review the new technical tools that inform more strategic investments in regional stormwater management, and then identify the supporting roles that each of us can play in making those goals a reality. Technical tools will be featured from King County, City of Tacoma, and Stewardship Partners.

Registration is now live, please click here. A more detailed agenda will be sent out to all registrants approximately two weeks before the event.

At the first Stormwater Summit, we led with our values and committed to co-designing next steps with all participating organizations. On November 1 and 2, we’ll take the next step – co-designing aspirational but informed implementation targets that will dramatically reduce the amount of untreated stormwater pollution that makes its way to Puget Sound. Our team is very excited for the coming conversations and we are eager to gather together and envision and create the cleaner water future we are all working toward.

On behalf of our team and our partners, thank you for the work you do, and we look forward to seeing you in November.

Sincerely,
Todd

The 2021 Annual Report is complete!!

Drum roll please…. Congratulations to all the Partners who reported on so many outstanding actions to improve the health of the watershed!

I am so proud to be working alongside such an amazing group of dedicated individuals and organizations. This annual report represents a staggering amount of work accomplished by a coalition of organizations committed to restoring the health of the Green/Duwamish Watershed. Working alone we will not achieve our vision, but if we continue to work together, anything is possible.

The annual report is divided into two parts:

This annual reporting process helps focus near-term work on what is realistic, relevant, and effective according to the best available information. It allows the Coalition to capture a snap-shot of how we’re meeting our commitments to each other and the watershed. Please email me with any comments or questions.

Discussions within the Partner group are already underway to re-evaluate how to tell the story of OGD’s success more effectively, so please share what you think of this annual report and connect with us at: www.ourgreenduwamish.com.