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Des Moines staff outline plan to preserve roughly 110 acres of canopy under surface-water utility
Summary
City staff presented mapping and early recommendations to use the Surface Water Utility to protect and manage public tree canopy after new Department of Ecology NPDES permit requirements; council members asked about funding, preservation tactics and community stewardship.
Des Moines officials on July 10 told the City Council Committee of the Whole they have identified roughly 61 city-owned parcels with substantial tree canopy and are studying whether the Surface Water Utility should take responsibility for protecting and managing them. Tyler Beekley, Surface Water Utility manager, said the work responds to a 2024 Department of Ecology National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit update that requires the city to map tree canopy on public property and adopt related goals or policies by 2028.
Why it matters: City-owned parcels account for a disproportionate share of local canopy, staff said, and transferring ownership or easements into the Surface Water Utility could secure long‑term protection, centralize maintenance responsibility and shift some costs from the general fund to the utility rate base.
Beekley told council he and consultants used lidar and other imagery…
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