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WaterWorks grants $5 million to community water quality improvement projects for 2022-23

By November 17, 2021February 15th, 2022No Comments

Sixty-eight projects aimed at protecting and improving regional water quality will be launched in the new year, thanks to funding through King County’s WaterWorks Grant Program.

The King County Council recently passed an ordinance approving the funding. The projects include a variety of approaches, including restoring stream and riverbanks, installing rain gardens, educating students and teachers, training youth in water quality job skills, monitoring water quality, and research.

Here are some photos of previous projects:

  • People planting trees and plants
    Installation of landscaping at Mini Mart City Park, a former gas station and contaminated site transformed into a community gathering space.
  • People planting plants in a rain garden lined with mulch
    United Indians of All Tribes project, here partnering with DIRT Corps to install a rain garden.
  • People using their feet to tamp down soil in a rain garden
    United Indians of All Tribes project, here partnering with Dirt Corps to install a rain garden.
  • Students with mask on stand next to a large pile of invasive plants they removed
    A previous WaterWorks project by Whale Scout – interns remove invasive plants at a site near Bear Creek.
  • People standing in an area along a river bank with plants and mulch
    Whale Scout interns help restore habitat along the Sammamish River with Mid Sound Fisheries and King County Parks.
  • A young man with a mask and safety vest on pours testing fluid into a beaker from a squirt bottle
    A Unleash the Brilliance intern tests local creek water as part of a project between UTB, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and Lost Urban Creeks.
  • A young man in safety vest and mask leans over a tub of water and looks at insects from a stream thru magnifiers
    An Unleash the Brilliance intern does bioassessment – analysis of insects from different streams that give an indication of water quality.

Some organizations were previously awarded WaterWorks funding. One example is the United Indians of All Tribes who are getting a second grant, Labateyah Native Water Steward Interns 2, focused on introducing native youth and other youth of color to careers in the environmental field. They won a Green Globe award in 2021.

For a list of the projects awarded funding for 2022-23, please visit the news release.