Pullman unveils first comprehensive stormwater management plan, seeks funding strategy for $14M-plus work
Loading...
Summary
Pullman staff presented the city’s first comprehensive stormwater management plan, describing permit-driven deadlines, a 10-year capital-improvement plan totaling roughly $14 million (grant-dependent flood projects excluded), and a proposed cost-of-service study to identify needed rate changes.
Pullman officials presented the city’s first comprehensive stormwater management plan on Jan. 27, saying the document lays out regulatory compliance and a multi-year capital program while highlighting a funding gap that will require a follow-up cost-of-service analysis.
The plan, completed in December 2025 and presented by Deputy Public Works Director Clayton Forsman and Stormwater Services Program Manager Justin Cohee, compiles the city’s obligations under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) municipal stormwater Phase 2 general permit and maps infrastructure needs across 11 modeled subbasins. Forsman said the city’s stormwater system discharges to seven receiving waters through roughly 167 outfalls and that soil conditions limit infiltration, increasing reliance on conveyance and treatment systems.
“The plan helps guide stormwater management in Pullman for the next decade,” Forsman said, noting it includes both structural projects (pipe replacements, culvert rehab) and programmatic items (pipe modeling, outfall evaluations) prioritized across a five-year permit cycle with later deliverables through 2029.
Cohee described several new or expanded permit expectations, including more-detailed annual reporting on street-sweeping metrics, updated code revisions for illicit-discharge and post-construction controls, and tree-canopy mapping and goals tied to stormwater outcomes. He said Pullman already exceeds some benchmarks — for example sweeping quadrants monthly and the downtown corridor weekly — putting the city ahead on that element of the new permit.
The plan contains a capital-improvement schedule with planning-level cost estimates (2025 dollars) for projects through 2035. Forsman said the capital list as written includes about $14 million in projects, but he emphasized that several identified flood-control projects are grant-dependent and would not be included in a rate-funded program unless grants were unavailable.
“We currently do not have sufficient reserves in the stormwater fund to implement the CIP,” Forsman said. “Pending adoption of the plan, staff intends to conduct a cost-of-service analysis later this year to evaluate potential rate changes to fund prioritized projects.”
Council members asked about flood projections and operations. Forsman said the plan includes FEMA flood maps and historical flood projects and that the plan’s hydrologic modeling identifies which subbasins are nearest capacity and where further pipe modeling should take place. He added the Dry Fork Creek tunnel and large box culverts downtown will require focused evaluation and coordination with the Washington State Department of Transportation because portions sit in the state highway right-of-way.
The presentation also highlighted programmatic efforts — public education delivered through a Palouse Conservation District partnership, an outfall inspection program, and enhanced monitoring and reporting to Ecology. Cohee said many permit deliverables are phased across the five-year cycle, giving the city time to plan code updates and staffing adjustments.
Next steps: Staff will continue refining the plan and said it anticipates returning to council for formal adoption in a future meeting after the planned cost-of-service analysis clarifies which projects would rely on new rate revenue and which would remain grant-dependent.
