When it rains in Seattle (as it often does) water flows along city streets and sidewalks, picking up toxins, before it is sent to a storm drain and eventually ends up in Puget Sound. This is the largest polluter of the Sound, sending 52 million pounds of pollutants into it every year.  That’s a conservative estimate but it’s nothing new. 

What is new is a map, produced by a team of GIS students from the University of Washington that shows where the storm drains - that send the water into Puget Sound - are. Turns out there are 4,500 public manmade storm drains, according to the team. The map was produced for People for Puget Sound, a nonprofit that advocates for healthy policies for the sound. The map also includes 2,123 natural drainages that receive inputs from the watershed system of additional drains, and 297 storm drains from the Washington State Department of Transportaion and 70 bridges. Industrial and private drains were not included in the project.

What poisons end up in the sound? Yummy things like copper, zinc, mercury, flame retardants, PAHs, and petroleum hydrocarbons. Some of these pollutants, like phthalates, which are found in plastic bottles and packaging, get dissolved in stormwater, making them hard to remove, if not impossible.  Pleasant.

Why should we care? Because, on a very base level, the Puget Sound is a huge economic driver that helps support our local economy. Not to mention the environmental aspects. 

So what does the image look like? Here it is…

Courtesy People for Puget Sound

Bruce Wishart, policy director for People for Puget Sound, said the map shows the enormity of the stormwater problem which impacts the sound.

Heather Trim, urban bays and toxics program manager for the organization, said the students went well beyond their class project to create a terrific map that advances knowledge of stormwater inputs. “We have been told by agencies that it would be years before we could get this map and yet the students have produced this tremendous resource.”

How about it readers, is this image a tad surprising? Or is it what you would have expected?

It never fails to amaze me that all green building people will somehow decide to host all their events on the same day or in the same week, making for something that I call green insanity. This week, my friends, is no exception.

Today (Monday): In case you missed it, the Puget Sound Partnership published

These events will keep you running!

its much awaited Action Agenda that outlines the health of Puget Sound. There was a huge brouhaha at the aquarium this afternoon. To reach the huge report, click here or read my article in the DJC tomorrow. To read my past writings on the agenda, click the Puget Sound tag below.

Tuesday: Noel Harding “artist and urban innovator” will speak as part of Transformational Lecture Series. His lecture will discuss art’s role in raising public awareness. The talk is free and begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Seattle Central Library. More info here.

Wednesday: The Northwest Environmental Business Council is hosting a luncheon at McCormick & Schmick’s Harborside restaurant about environmental issues during the state Legislature’s 2009 session. State Senator Dabbie Regala of Tacoma, Jerry Smedes of Smedes & Associates and Rep. David Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, will speak. It costs $35 for NEBC members and $48 for all others and runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more info, click here.

Thursday: The Master Builder’s Association of King and Snohomish Counties is hosting a sustainability breakfast that looks like classic green fare. It’s called ‘Integrating Sustainability into Your Business Planning’ and features Brenda Nunes giving the environmental case, Carolyn Hope giving the social and economic case and Cheryl Isen speaking about ways to leverage and promote sustainable practices. It’s at the MBA Housing Center in Bellevue from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. and costs $45 per person. More info here.

Then, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Triad Associates in Kirkland, the Associated Builders & Contractors’ Green Council  hosts a free roundtable discussion on green roofs. Wondering about ’em? Patrick Carey of Hadj Design will tell you all you need to know. More info here.

Later in the day, at 5:30 p.m., Tom Paladino of Paladino & Co., will speak about the triple bottom line and creating abundance through green building. This also, is part of the Transformational Lecture Series. It’s free and is at the Tacoma Public Utilities Auditorium. More info here.

Still later in the evening (if you want a really busy day) David Dicks, executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership, will discuss the projects and programs outlined in the action agenda and how they will be funded. Hosted by People by Puget Sound, it costs $6 for PSP members and $8 for nonmembers. IT is at REI at 7 p.m. For more info, call (206) 382-7007.

And heck, if you want to keep running, the Cascade Land Conservancy is hosting its annual holiday party for King County today from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Refreshments and appetizers will be served, and there is no RSVP required. It’s at 615 2nd Ave, Suite 600 in Seattle. Click here for more.

And that, my friends, should keep you busy!

Remember that time, last July or August, when you caught a view of the Puget Sound out of the corner of your eye… maybe above Pike Place Market. Maybe crossing a ferry to Bainbridge. Maybe at Discovery Park. And you just thought to yourself ‘Wow.’

Hold that memory in your head. Now imagine what this region would be without Puget Sound. If you voted for the Pike Place Market property tax levy because of the

Puget Sound

 market’s intrinsic value to this community, then imagine how much more intrinsic is that body of water that is an environmental and economic driver of the Pacific Northwest.

Guess what, it’s sick. It’s really, really sick. So sick, the Puget Sound Partnership has spent the last 18 months figuring out what it would take to cure it with its draft action agenda. But hold your horses, the document is still only a draft and is ready to change based on your comments.

If you care about the sound… or would like to have future memories with the sound in it, I’d read my story in the DJC tomorrow, check the action agenda out here, and start investigating the issue and how you can make a difference. It’s worth it.