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Skagit County natural-resources staff outline watershed, farmland and stormwater work and warn of costly permit-driven retrofits
Summary
Natural Resources Division manager Jen Johnson gave commissioners an overview of four county teams — surface water/drainage, stormwater/clean water, habitat (fish passage), and noxious-weed control — noting the county's NPDES permit (2024–2029) will require costly stormwater retrofits and staff are seeking grants and partnerships to meet those demands.
Jen Johnson, Natural Resources Division manager in Skagit County Public Works, told the Board of County Commissioners that her team of about 18 staff is organized into four groups — habitat, surface water (drainage), noxious-weed control and water resources (clean water and stormwater) — and that those programs together address a wide range of county environmental responsibilities.
Johnson said the drainage team is the county’s front-line responder for landowner drainage complaints and is funded through the county’s drainage utility assessment, a program the county established in 1997. "This is the team that responds to all the drainage concerns throughout the county and does many of our drainage projects and retrofits," she said.
She emphasized the county’s stormwater work is regulated under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase II permit administered by the Washington Department of Ecology. "Our current permit runs from…
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