During the fall, winter and spring the San Juan Islands receive significant precipitation that can cause property to become wet and muddy and even cause property damage.
Sometimes when the excess rainwater runs downslope, it can cause erosion of soil and isolated flooding. The runoff may contain pollutants from roadways and lawns/landscaped areas.
San Juan County Community Planning & Development and the San Juan Islands Conservation District are sponsoring two informative free workshop for San Juan County residents who are interested in drainage, water quality, soils, plants and Low Impact Development (LID) best management practices that can help reduce runoff, clean pollutants and increase infiltration as well as create attractive landscapes and conserve precious water resources.
The general concept is to mimic natural hydrologic processes by protecting soils, amending soils, planting native plants that can tolerate local conditions and directing runoff into small scale facilities for treatment and infiltration.
Two workshops are being offered:
Friday, Nov. 18, from 2 – 5:00 p.m. at the Grange in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island
Saturday, Nov. 19, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Outlook Inn in Eastsound on Orcas Island
Topics to be covered include “Sustainable Land Use Principles” with a national expert on soils and sustainable land practices, Mr. David McDonald a Resource Planner at Seattle Public Utilities and an educator for the PSP/WSU/UW Low Impact Development Certification program. He will cover Best Landscape Practices, Soil Protection & Restoration, Vegetation Management and Pollution Prevention.
The second part of the workshop will cover the basics of engineering and “Low Impact Development” with speaker Mark Buehrer, Professional Engineer from 2020 Engineering in Bellingham. His firm has designed stormwater systems and low impact development facilities in the San Juan Islands. He will address Site Planning Principals, Best Management Practices (BMPs), Erosion Control, Water Quality Treatment as well as Construction, Operation & Maintenance of various drainage solutions.
Also included in the workshop is a discussion of “Water & Your Land: Opportunities for Landowners in the Eastsound & Westcott / Garrison Bay Watersheds” by Julie Thompson, San Juan County Community Planning and Development Department and Danna N. Kinsey, San Juan Islands Conservation District. They will look at current project areas and the future of stormwater management in the islands.
The target audience for these workshops includes landowners and business owners in the watersheds of East Sound and Westcott / Garrison Bays, Community Decision Makers (County Council, HOAs, Eastsound Planning & Review Committee, etc.), Contractors, Architects, Engineers, Builders/Developers, Landscape Professionals and anyone interested in green technologies and natural resource conservation.
To reserve a seat or for more details contact the San Juan Islands Conservation District at 360-378-6621 or by email info@sanjuanislandscd.org. For links and more information, visit www.sanjuanislandscd.org.
