Snoqualmie outlines new NPDES stormwater requirements and targets Kimball Creek retrofits by 2028

Project engineer Patrick Fry briefed the Snoqualmie Parks and Public Works Committee on May 6, 2025 about the 2024–2029 NPDES municipal stormwater (MS4) permit cycle and new work required under the Department of Ecology permit, including a large new component for stormwater management of existing development.

The briefing matters because the new permit items add staff workload and capital obligations for the city, including a behavior-change social marketing campaign, expanded business inspections, a municipal street sweeping program, mapping of MS4 outfalls and a requirement to implement or fully fund stormwater retrofit projects equal to 2.3 equivalent acres in the Kimball Creek priority catchment by 2028.

Patrick Fry, project engineer for the City of Snoqualmie, outlined 2024 compliance work and new permit milestones. For 2024, Fry said staff inspected about 1,500 catch basins and cleaned 406, inspected all 62 city-owned stormwater facilities and performed maintenance on 37 of them, reviewed 12 site plans, inspected two construction sites, performed 27 business inspections that produced two corrective action letters, and received…