The PI notes that the Lehrer NewsHour had a piece the other day on the stormwater problems in the Puget Sound region and what King County is starting to do about it.  I saw the NewsHour piece and it was pretty good.  It highlighted the very few developers who have realized that it is pretty easy to do the right thing.  They did find one developer, as the PI said, who "said using low-impact building techniques to handle stormwater had actually saved her money".  It was also very nice looking. 

The Washington Pollution Control Hearing Board made what could be a landmark ruling a couple months ago.  They now require the use of low-impact, natural methods of treating stormwater runoff in new developments. Developers are fighting it, saying that they are being unfairly targeted since folks in existing houses don't have to do anything to help the situation.  That's a fair complaint but only means there is so much more to be done.

And, as we said when the ruling came out - "Why fight it?"  As this one developer said, besides being the right thing to do and being much better looking, it saves money.

One of the Earthjustice lawyers who brought the case, Jan Hasselman, said they will continue to pursue rulings to effect smaller cities as well as the larger ones covered in the initial ruling.  It would probably be a good idea to figure out how to address the other 95% of where the stormwater runoff comes from as well.  The health of Puget Sound and the people of the region depends on it.