Stormwater Management Program

Healthy waters and flood-safe neighborhoods are important, so how well we plan and care for our stormwater systems matters! Stormwater planning is more than managing excess rainwater; it's a broad approach that includes strategies and policies that protect our community, enhance the environment, and contribute to a more sustainable future.

What we’re doing:

• Prioritizing selected watersheds for stormwater planning and implementation
• Updating goals and policies to encourage more nature-based (“green”) stormwater solutions.
• Coordinating with City long range planning and Comprehensive Plans
• Collaborating with departments City-wide
• Working with regional partners

Our programs connect people with nature and build appreciation for the natural environment that surrounds us. They raise awareness about the everyday actions people can take to protect our water and our community.

What we’re doing:

• Community-focused stewardship activities including Stream Team programs and habitat restoration events
• Pollution prevention outreach including pet waste, natural yard care, dumpster lids, car care, Puget Sound Starts Here [KF1] campaigns and more
• Hosting Stormwater Week for 6^th grade middle school students
• Starting an Adopt-A-Drain Program this fall
• Maintaining educational resources including webpages, social media, newsletters, utility bill inserts, video, online learning and printed materials available on Stream Team and City of Olympia platforms
• Holding a Water Stewardship Through Art calendar contest for middle school students
• Sponsoring South Sound Green environmental education programs

Like this Engage Olympia site, we invite the community to get involved by reviewing our stormwater management plans and providing ideas that can help shape our programs. One of our goals is to make sure the benefits and any burdens of this work reach people equitably, and that voices historically left out of this process are heard and represented.

What we’re doing:

• Hosting public forums with groups like the Deschutes Watershed Salmon Recovery Committee, Rotary Club, League of Women Voters, Latinx Community, Utility Advisory Committee
• Tabling at local community events
• Direct mailings

Our maps show how stormwater moves through the city using a Geographic Information System. It stores data and allows us to do analysis that helps us manage our stormwater programs effectively and efficiently. It informs decision-making, helps us comply with regulations, and enhances community engagement. We maintain and update our existing mapping through site inspections, televising pipes and work done in the field.

What we map:

• City-owned storm drains, pipes, ditches, vaults, ponds, bioswales and more
• Privately owned storm drains, pipes, ditches, vaults, ponds, bioswales and more
• Areas served by our stormwater system that drain to surface waters like our streams, rivers, lakes and Puget Sound
• Outfall points where our stormwater system drains directly to surface waters
• Connections between our system and other municipalities stormwater systems
• Connections from the City’s stormwater system to privately-owned stormwater systems
• Tree canopy
• Overburdened communities

We use mapping information to understand:

• Where stormwater is being collected and where it is going
• Areas that would benefit from increased stormwater management and habitat enhancement
• How and where tree canopy enhancement can help reduce stormwater issues throughout the city
• High priority areas for street sweeping to reduce flooding and remove pollution

Our priority is preventing spills in the first place and quickly cleaning them up when they happen. We work hard to keep spills, leaks and illegal dumping out of our stormwater system. This work is vital to protecting community welfare, human health and our water.

What we’re doing:

• Publicize and operate a 24-hour, 7-days a week spill hotline.
• Respond to and investigate all calls and reports regarding concerns such as illegal dumping, spills, illicit discharges, and illicit connections.
• Train all field staff on how to prevent, identify, trace and respond to issues and concerns.
• Keep records of all calls and the resulting actions taken.
• Provide outreach about protecting our water and community health through spill prevention, reporting and clean-up.

Through our business inspection program, we help businesses identify and address operational and structural sources of stormwater pollution. We offer technical support on pollution prevention best practices, and how to comply with City codes. Our hope is this will save businesses costly cleanup of spills, as well as protect their investments, employees, customers, and our community.

What we’re doing:

• Maintain a business inventory including 415 private and 111 public sites. We inspect 20% of our inventory annually.
• Review and update the current business inventory list.
• Send letters providing information about our program, including best practices to prevent stormwater pollution and a link to the City’s Business Pollution Prevention webpage.
• Distribute spill kits to Key businesses like welding shops, small appliance repair shops, restaurants, convenience stores, and coffee stands.
• Distribute spill plan form to businesses that do not have a current spill plan for their site.
• Provide information to owners of commercial buildings constructed between 1950-1979 regarding the identification and assessment of building materials with the potential to contain PCBs. We provide building wash down best practices to eliminate PCBs from entering the stormwater system.

Stormwater Management for Existing Development is a new section of the Permit. Strategic investments focus on reducing stormwater impacts and improving stormwater management in previously developed areas of the City . This helps prevent water quality degradation and improve conditions in waters harmed by past development.

Stormwater investments are focused on retrofits identified through our Stormwater Management Action Plan (SMAP) or as otherwise planned by our jurisdiction. Each year the City pursues one water quality grant from the Department of Ecology. In 2026, Olympia will prioritize one water quality project, to receive grant funding.

What we’re doing:

• Green Stormwater Retrofit at Rogers and Hays is on Ecology’s Final Funding Offer list eligible for $759,220. This project will treat stormwater from 16 acres. Project designs are 90% complete, construction is anticipated Summer of 2026 or 2027 pending grant funding.
• Brawne Avenue Stormwater Retrofit Project is designed to remove 50% to 80% of the suspended solids from stormwater coming from a 59-acre basin in West Olympia. Suspended solids include trash, pet waste, tire and brake dust, and microplastics that currently go into Budd Inlet. The project is funded by a grant from the Department of Ecology and from stormwater utility fees. Construction is scheduled for early September through mid-October 2025.

We work with commercial property owners, homeowner associations and neighborhoods to ensure their stormwater systems do what they are designed to do. We provide technical assistance on what to inspect and how to maintain their stormwater features. This helps save money in the long run, protects their property and our natural environment.

What we’re doing:

• Provide a resources page for property owners to meet inspection and maintenance requirements, including a free online stormwater facility inspection and maintenance training course for property owners, property managers and contractors.
• In 2025, staff implemented a streamlined facility maintenance inspection form used by property owners, property management, and contractors. The form improves the inspection process for property owners and managers.
• The program inspects 100% of facilities adopted pursuant to the 2007-2024 Ecology municipal stormwater permits annually.

Reducing the impacts from development activities is crucial for preventing stormwater pollution, minimizing erosion and flooding and protecting aquatic habitat. From development plan review to construction site inspections, our program ensures compliance with City codes, drainage design and erosion control standards and Permit requirements for both private and public projects.

What we’re doing:

• Set standards and provide guidance on the measures necessary to control the quantity and quality of stormwater produced by new development and redevelopment projects through our Olympia’s Drainage Design and Erosion Control Manual (DDECM)
• In 2026, staff will begin updating our DDECM to meet requirements of the 2024 Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington.
• Require the following activities on all private and public construction sites that meet the minimum thresholds outlined in the DDECM as required by the Permit:
  • Review of all stormwater site plans for proposed development activities.
  • Inspect all sites prior to clearing and construction and during construction.
  • Inspect all development sites upon completion of construction and prior to final approval or occupancy.
  • Verify that a maintenance plan is completed and responsibility for maintenance is assigned for stormwater facilities.
  • Implement an enforcement action against those failing to comply with requirements of the DDECM including sites that are also covered by stormwater permits issued by the Dept of Ecology.

Olympia’s publicly owned stormwater system is vast. It includes storm drains, pipes, ditches, vaults, ponds and more. As our stormwater infrastructure ages, it’s crucial to continually inspect and maintain our system. This ensures that it functions properly and helps us plan and budget for infrastructure replacement and upgrades.

What we’re doing:

1. Operate an enhanced street sweeping program with the use of two regenerative air sweepers. This removes dirt, trash, leaves and tire particles from roads before washing into storm drains.
2. Clean and maintain pre-treatment facilities to remove solids collected before draining to water bodies.
3. Conduct televised pipe inspections and perform identified repairs.
4. Enhance community safety by reducing flood risk. A list of flooding “hot spots” informs our crews where extra maintenance is needed during heavy rain events.
5. Spot checks of stormwater facilities during and after major storm events to ensure proper water quality treatment and flow control.
6. Storm drain inspection and cleaning program.
7. In 2026, expansion of ditch inspection and maintenance program.