Experts debate infiltration feasibility for Meadowview; county review finds conservative pond design

At a Jan. 17 Kitsap County consolidated hearing on the Meadowview preliminary plat SEPA appeal, project geotechnical and civil engineers and outside experts clashed over whether the site can rely on infiltration systems rather than large ponds to meet county stormwater rules.

Miss Decker, a geotechnical engineer for Terra Associates, testified that the Meadowview site contains three broad soil zones and that infiltration is feasible in the northern, outwash-mapped portion of the property but not across the entire site. She said the firm’s preliminary long-term design infiltration rate for candidate northern areas is 1 inch per hour, and that deeper testing and final-engineering site grading will be required to confirm any infiltrative systems.

Why this matters: Kitsap County’s stormwater manual guides a multi-step feasibility check that first looks for measured infiltration rates, then derives a design rate. County guidance and project engineers said Meadowview’s final stormwater design must be conservative at preliminary plat because some portions of the site have low-permeability formations, steep slopes and many planned walls and cuts that could limit…