Clark County lays out $19.8 million six-year stormwater capital plan, highlights Heritage Farm wetland work

Jeff, a county stormwater program staff member, presented Clark County’s proposed six-year stormwater capital plan for 2026–2031 during the Clean Water Commission meeting on Sept. 4.

The proposal contains 31 projects with a planned total cost of about $19.8 million, with the largest shares programmed for water-quality projects and capital repairs. “This year we had our busiest year ever and our largest budget ever for a single year,” Jeff said, summarizing 2025 work and progress on projects now in construction and design.

The plan emphasizes three priorities: capital repairs (defined as repairs costing more than $25,000 that must be funded from capital rather than maintenance), water-quality treatment projects targeting heavily developed basins such as Lower Salmon Creek, and a ramped-up reforestation program. Reforestation aims cited in the presentation are roughly six acres per year or about 30 acres every six years; staff said the next six-year plan aims closer to 40 acres.

Jeff detailed 2025 accomplishments that informed the new plan, including eight projects constructed or in construction (among them the large Heritage Farm wetland restoration), eight projects in design, and multiple internal major-repair projects completed by county crews. He showed photos taken by Subhas Pudyal of ongoing work at Prairie (Heritage) Farm and of a heavy concrete vault installed on a Highway 90 corridor project adjacent to Thunderbird High School.

On regulatory requirements and program scope, staff stressed that the county’s capital program addresses stormwater impacts from existing development and does not fund facilities that enable new development. Staff also walked the commission through permit-driven programs and acronyms used in planning: the Phase I municipal stormwater permit, the newly named SMED (Stormwater Management for Existing Development) requirement, SMAP (stormwater management action planning) work on basins such as Lower Salmon Creek, and management of classified underground injection control features (commonly called dry wells).

Funding assumptions in the plan combine several sources. Staff identified approximately $7.2 million expected from the county Clean Water Fund and roughly the same amount from REET 2 receipts for the six-year program, with an anticipated $5 million from external grants. Jeff also cited an existing $4.34 million loan (20-year term) financing part of a large project. Staff characterized the REET 2 contribution as an allocation made available from existing fund balances and subject to future council decisions, and said current assumptions are planned to be safe through 2029.

The plan programs more capital repairs in later years to address aging detention and treatment infrastructure and to follow up on pipe-inspection work that staff will expand in 2026. Staff said the county owns about 1,800 classified injection wells and has been retrofitting or removing a small subset that did not meet separation-from-groundwater requirements identified in an earlier assessment.

Staff outlined a near-term schedule: the commission review on Sept. 4, final touches through Oct. 15, a council work session in October, a target council adoption on Nov. 4, and council budget adoption in early December. Jeff said the county does an annual adoption (by resolution) to align the stormwater capital program with broader county capital programming even though formal adoption is not required by statute.

Commissioners and members asked questions about distinctions between stabilization habitat and reforestation, the long-term reliability of REET 2 funding, how asset- and pipe-inspection work will change project prioritization, and the role of technical innovations such as phosphorus-targeting cartridges. Staff said the SMAP asset-management work in 2026 will include a pipe-inspection program, condition and capacity analyses, and a prioritized list of repairs and maintenance that could be cleaned or rehabilitated before larger capital work is scheduled.

The presentation noted a 2025 single-year capital budget of about $5.5 million and said the Heritage Farm wetland restoration is the largest single project in that year’s work; the full Heritage Farm project cost was described as roughly $4.5 million with the 2025 work representing the final piece. Staff also described a reforestation program at Schreiber Northwest on the East Fork Lewis River and multiple retrofit projects on Highway 99 and 90th Street corridors.

The commission did not take a formal vote to adopt the county plan at this meeting; staff asked commissioners to review the detailed matrix of projects and said they would be available for questions before the plan goes to council. Staff encouraged commissioners to visit project sites and flagged an upcoming SMAP public open house and other outreach events in October.

Why it matters: the plan sets priorities and funding assumptions that will shape stormwater investments affecting stream and wetland restoration, aging storm infrastructure and neighborhood flooding risk. The mix of capital repairs, water-quality projects and property acquisition can alter long-term maintenance needs and grant competitiveness, while the reliance on REET 2 and anticipated grants affects rate and budget planning ahead of a 2029 rate review.

Looking ahead: staff expects to expand pipe-inspection and asset-management work in 2026, continue reforestation and retrofit projects in high-impervious areas including Lower Salmon Creek, and bring the final six-year plan to county council for adoption on a schedule staff outlined for November and December.