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Anacortes reviews annual stormwater maintenance program; mapping and street-sweeping reporting to expand
Summary
Stormwater Program Manager Aaron Estrel briefed council on inspection cycles, source-control work, mapping (including tree canopy layers) and new street-sweeping reporting requirements; staff said the stormwater master plan is targeted for adoption in spring.
Aaron Estrel, the city's stormwater program manager, presented the 2026 annual stormwater maintenance plan to the council on March 23, describing compliance obligations, inspection schedules and outreach activities required by the municipal stormwater permit.
Estrel said the city must inspect all public stormwater inventory items yearly and private permanent BMPs on a schedule; the city has 194 permanent BMPs and 233 businesses in the source-control inventory, with a target to inspect 20% of those businesses each year. "This is everything that touches the ground ends up out in the bay," Estrel said, stressing public education on the difference between stormwater and sanitary sewer flows.
New permit elements include additional mapping (tributaries, basins and conveyance areas for pipes 24 inches and larger), reporting on street-sweeping amounts after each sweeping event, and ongoing participation in the Stormwater Action Monitoring (SAM) program. Estrel said the city is also tracking tree canopy layers in GIS to inform priorities where canopy contributes to stormwater treatment.
Council members asked about sweep schedules, contamination testing (PCBs) and high-risk outfall inspections; Estrel said a formal street-sweeper schedule is not currently used, but staff will work on time-frame windows tied to mapping work, and noted some future testing requirements could be part of the next permit cycle.
The council thanked staff and placed the plan in the work program, with staff returning as necessary to report on mapping, inspection results and potential schedule changes.
No formal action was required at this presentation.
