What’s happening around the Sound?
Follow the links below to read more about the important regional issues impacting Puget Sound.
Stay current on the work of our partners at the University of Washington’s Puget Sound Institute.
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Current Events
Scientists question state plan that doubles sewer bills at Puget Sound treatment plants
By Josh Farley
BREMERTON–Sewer bills could double by the end of the decade under a state plan that will require billions of dollars to construct new systems at wastewater treatment plants that discharge into Puget Sound.
Officials at the state’s Department of Ecology say it’s time to require the plants, including those on the Kitsap Pennisula, to remove nitrogen that comes from urine. They believe the nitrogen could lead to “dead zones” of little to no dissolved oxygen in the water, which is harmful to sea life.
“Puget Sound communities rely on a healthy ecosystem,” Vince McGowan, the department’s water quality program manager, said in a blog last year. “We need strong salmon runs and thriving orca pods. Without this (program), we’ll be on a fast track to dead zones.”
But some experts at the University of Washington say the new requirements will produce little environmental benefit. They believe there are better ways to spend money to help the health of Puget Sound.
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Photo credit: Meegan M Reid/Kitsap Sun
Making room for salmon
By Sarah DeWeerdt
How can Puget Sound generate more salmon? That question has been at the center of ecosystem recovery efforts for decades. But even as scientists and conservationists make progress on many fronts — from breaching dams to cleaning up the water — they have faced one especially complicated and frustrating limitation: Salmon need more estuaries. We look at how local tribes are working to restore this critical habitat.
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Photo credit: Sylvia Kantor
Washington State seeks tighter wastewater rules for Puget Sound, but sewage operators push back
By Lynda V. Vapes, Seattle Times Environment Reporter
ABOARD THE SOUND GUARDIAN, Puget Sound — The Sound Guardian, King County’s research vessel, eased eased into the blue of Puget Sound for a water-quality monitoring cruise.
The crew slung equipment overboard with a splash to test the chemistry of the water, taking readings 16 times a second to measure everything from the amount of light in the water to levels of dissolved oxygen on a summer day.
.While this monitoring is routine, a controversy peaking over how best to protect the health of Puget Sound is anything but.
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Photo Credit: Steve Ringman / The Seattle Times
Puget Sound Clean Water Alliance 