Stormwater News

Pat first began working for the City of Edmonds as a college student during his summer breaks. While he originally planned on becoming a teacher, working for the city was so rewarding that after graduation, he decided to stay. His first role in Public Works, which entailed stormwater system maintenance and pipe installation, equipped him with invaluable problem solving skills. Five years ago, Pat moved into his current role as Senior Stormwater Engineering Technician, where he’s helped his city make significant progress. “It’s really rewarding watching the city change in such positive ways,” he shares. “I love getting to be a part of that, whether it’s educating fellow community members or building new green infrastructure.”

It turns out that Pat did become a teacher after all, just not in the way he once imagined. L As the father of a fourteen year old, educating the next generation about environmental conservation is of the utmost importance to him. Pat shares that he doesn’t have to try very hard to sell his message to local students. “These kids care so much about the environment and want to help protect the orcas and fish,” he explains. “The teachers are already doing a great job educating the students on these topics. I just go in to tell them about what the city does and why we do it.”

“It’s great to see kids getting involved in conservation at such a young age,” Pat shares. The City of Edmonds provides financial support to Students Saving Salmon, a club created at a local high school. The students involved learn how to monitor local streams and creeks and conduct water quality sampling. The city of Edmonds also helps to buy the club supplies for their renewable fish program. Students learn how to raise fish from infancy, then release them into local streams.

Pat loves getting to work with students who are interested in pursuing careers in the environmental field. To those thinking about getting involved in the stormwater field, he advises, “Be ready for a lot of successes, but also be ready for some frustrations.” Pat explains that while his role is incredibly rewarding, making progress can take time and involve setbacks along the way. He shares, “When I first started out, I thought, ‘It’s gonna be 100% successful, I’m gonna change everything.’ But it’s a slow process to educate everyone, because we don’t all live in the stormwater world. Everyone has their own lives they’re dealing with, so it can be hard to get everyone on the same page.” When he’s confronted with challenges, whether it’s tracing where an illicit discharge is coming from or cleaning up a small oil spill, he relies on the problem-solving skills he learned at the very beginning of his career in the field installing stormwater pipes. Pat explains the importance of persisting, even if it takes many attempts to reach success. “When you finally do get it right, it’s unbelievably rewarding,” he shares.

As the one and only stormwater technician within Edmonds’ engineering department, Pat certainly has his hands full. Luckily, the volunteers from the Salish Sea Stormwater Monitoring Project have been able to lend a hand. Pat explains, “The volunteers are able to provide time and resources that I don’t have as a one-man team. When they first reached out to me, I thought, ‘This is fantastic!’” The volunteer team collects water samples from stormwater outfalls and tests them for pollution concentrations, bacteria, and heavy metals. Pat says that the volunteer’s work is “providing data that has been helpful to the city’s efforts.” When the volunteers discover an outfall containing above-threshold levels of an illicit discharge, they notify Pat who can find the root cause of the issue and eliminate it. He explains how rewarding it feels when water quality samples come back showing no harmful elements, as “that means our message is getting out and our citizens are doing their part.”

Pat shares several ways that all community members can do their part to improve water quality. Properly managing yard waste is one of the most important things you can do to make a difference. Pat urges folks to avoid blowing or sweeping leaves and yard debris into the street or sidewalk. These leaves clog up the drainage system and eventually break down. As they disintegrate, they release nitrogen and excessive nutrients into the stormwater. This phenomenon can dramatically affect the quality of the stormwater and the water bodies it flows into. When excessive nitrogen is present in water, it can create dangerous algae blooms. Algae blooms can suck the oxygen out of the water which is deadly to fish and other marine life.

23 different streams flow through Edmonds, many of which are fish-bearing. The water quality of streams is so vital that every Friday, the Edmonds Public Works Crew checks these watercourses to ensure they are free of clogging debris and visually check that high levels of pollution are not present. That’s why Pat helps those who live next to a stream to take extra precautions to care properly for the land. Living next to a stream means taking on a special responsibility, as one’s everyday actions have an impact on the health of the stream and the Puget Sound it flows into. Simple actions, like setting up a compost pile too close to the stream’s edge or dumping lawn clippings on the banks, can have a major impact on the stream’s water quality and the marine wildlife who call it home.

Learning how to best take care of our land and our waterways can be a challenge. That’s why Pat wants to help his community members by sharing his knowledge. He explains, “As I became a husband and a father, I became so much more aware of the importance of environmental conservation. My passion for the environment grew tenfold. Since I understand more now, I can make a difference by teaching others what I know.”

Want to learn more about how to make your home or business more stormwater friendly? Don’t hesitate to reach out to the City of Edmonds Stormwater Department. You can reach Pat at: pat.johnson@edmondswa.gov. Want to join our team of volunteers and help conduct water quality monitoring? Email us at volunteer@stormwater-salishsea.org!