Committee forwards city’s NPDES/stormwater annual report to consent agenda

Kevin Du, Water Quality Program Supervisor for Public Works, briefed the committee on the city’s 2025 NPDES (stormwater) annual report required by the Washington State Department of Ecology. Du summarized the report’s 10 sections: stormwater planning; public education and outreach; public involvement and participation; MS4 mapping and documentation; illicit discharge detection and elimination; construction-runoff controls; stormwater management for existing development; source-control programs; operations and maintenance; and monitoring and assessment.

Du said the city meets mapping and documentation requirements, inspects private and public drainage connections and maintains more than 22,000 structures and roughly 480 miles of pipes and ditches. For monitoring and assessment, the city participates in a regional fund that supports studies and projects. He described the city’s illicit-discharge reporting workflow: residents can report via the "Eyes on Federal Way" app, field staff are trained to spot discharges, Ecology reports cross to the city and events are tracked in the MPDS Pro system before annual XML submittal to Ecology.

A council member asked whether reporting frequency could move to every two years to reduce staff burden; Du said that depends on Ecology’s permit deadlines and the specific permit cycle. After discussion, the committee voted to forward the proposed submittal and authorize the public works director to submit the annual report to Ecology; the motion passed unanimously.