Stormwater News

It rains almost 200 days a year in the Pacific Northwest. One may wonder where all the water goes once it hits the ground. In Anacortes, WA, a network of drains and outfalls channel this stormwater directly into the Salish Sea. This water is left untreated before it flows into the ocean, putting wildlife like salmon and orcas at risk when the runoff is contaminated.

Anacortes Stormwater Manager Diane Hennebert works tirelessly to protect local aquatic ecosystems. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone else who loves their job quite as much as she does. Her enthusiastic personality and passion for the subject shines as she exclaims, “I just really love talking about stormwater!”

Diane explains that her passion for science and love of the outdoors began at a young age. She recounts growing up on the outskirts of Tacoma and playing in nearby drainage ditches as a child. She has fond memories of rescuing tadpoles in too- shallow water by carefully transporting them to deeper parts of the ditch. Her interactions with environmental infrastructure during early childhood made a lasting impression. She reflects on these beginnings, saying “Now I think, wow, that explains so much about my career path!”

Her work in marine conservation didn’t stop there. After high school, she spent a year working on environmental restoration through the Washington Conservation Corps. This inspired her to pursue a degree in Environmental Science at Humboldt State University in Northern California. She minored in Chemistry and placed her educational emphasis on Water Quality and Hazardous Waste, creating the educational foundation for the work she does today. She recounts that Humboldt, located between the Redwoods and the coast, was the perfect place to gain hands-on experience in her field.

Diane’s first job out of college involved stormwater treatment on construction sites in Shoreline, WA. She explains that muddy runoff from the construction sites would be pumped into processing tanks where the runoff would be treated using sand filtration systems. She recounts that water would come in with the appearance of chocolate milk, but would exit clean enough that it could safely be discharged directly to a salmon-bearing stream. This position propelled her to her next role as Stormwater Inspector for the city of Auburn, WA, where she was responsible for the routine inspection of privately owned storm drainage systems. Later on, while working for Pierce County’s surface water management program, she coordinated water quality sampling across the region. “It was a great job,” she tells me. “One day I might be sampling stormwater by the Port of Tacoma, and the next day I might be sampling a freshwater stream up by Mount Rainier.” Her drive to make a difference and abundance of professional experience has led her to where she is now, as the Anacortes Stormwater Manager.

Diane celebrates her five years as Stormwater Manager next month. Her hard work is driven by the opportunity to make an impact on our oceans and marine wildlife. “Stormwater is a very complex problem, with very real impacts on our aquatic ecosystems,” She emphasizes. “It feels good to do work that I feel has value and work on projects that make improvements for both my community and the Salish Sea.” Her responsibilities vary at any given time as each day brings with it new challenges and problems for her to solve. You might find her working with local businesses and contractors to improve stormwater practices, as well as focusing on community education and public outreach. You’ll also find her coordinating clean-up responses and investigating illicit discharges into the stormwater system, leading the charge on proactive environmental conservation. “I’m a really collaborative person,” she says. “That’s one of the things that I love about my job. I get to work across the entire city, and I get to work with a lot of other organizations.” She works in partnership with field crews on repairs and maintenance, with the legal department on amending city code, and with the Police and Fire Department on spill responses and pollution source investigations.

In addition to serving as the city’s Stormwater Manager, Diane represents Anacortes on the Skagit Marine Resources Committee. In collaboration with this team, she spearheaded a community project to construct a rain garden at Mount Erie Elementary School. Partnered with the Skagit Watershed Council “Drain Rangers” Program, Diane went into the classroom to teach young students about stormwater solutions. She believes in the importance of educating children about marine conservation, and is excited to see what the next generation’s creative solutions to environmental issues will be.

Diane uses sampling data sourced from volunteers of the Salish Sea Stormwater Monitoring Project in order to combat water quality issues with precision and effectiveness. This data informs how she decides where to focus water quality efforts. “Through the hard work and close attention of the volunteers, we have been able to find some unauthorized discharges to the storm system and get them cleaned up.” When volunteers found dangerously high levels of E. coli seeping from a city outfall last year, Diane launched a thorough investigation. She took samples from multiple locations that led to the drainage basin. The results of these samples allowed her to determine which neighborhood the high bacteria count was coming from. In order to locate the house that was responsible for the issue, she and her team utilized smoke testing. This method involves using a blower to send non-toxic smoke into the storm system through a manhole. This smoke exits out of anything that is connected to the storm system, narrowing down the possibly responsible locations. In this case, she noticed smoke coming out of a house’s sewer vent, which suggested that the home’s sewer was mistakenly connected to the storm drain rather than the sanitary sewer. After utilizing a dye test, which involves flushing a colored tablet down the toilet to see if the color appears in the stormwater outfall, she was able to confirm that the house’s system was indeed cross connected. The homeowner hired a contractor to properly connect the home to the sanitary sewer. The Salish Sea and the aquatic creatures who call it home are safer thanks to the collaborative effort of volunteers, Diane, and her hard-working team.

Diane encourages community members to take an active role by notifying the city if they spot possible water contamination or illegal dumping. Anacortes residents can reach the stormwater hotline at 360-293-1921.

They can also download the See-Click-Fix app, which allows users to report their concerns directly to the city. If you’re passionate about ocean conservation and have a few hours each month to spare, consider becoming a volunteer with the Salish Sea Stormwater Monitoring Project by reaching out to volunteer@stormwater-salishsea.org. You might make the next discovery that will aid Diane in her mission to keep our oceans clean.

• See-Click-Fix App for iOS
• See-Click-Fix App for Android