Project Overview

The WSU Low Impact Development (LID) and Frontage Improvement Project provides economic development, environmental, water quality, and alternative transportation benefits while establishing the largest Low Impact Development demonstration site in the State of Washington. The project includes porous asphalt and pervious concrete improvements on existing streets along Washington State University (WSU) frontage in Puyallup. The project will establish provide water quality treatment for over seven million gallons of stormwater per year that would otherwise flow into Clarks Creek and other nearby salmon-bearing creeks as untreated runoff. That’s enough water to cover a football field almost 20 feet deep.

The overall project is divided into five phases for management and funding purposes. The project goals address TMDL requirements of the City's NPDES Stormwater permit: remove impervious surface and reduce untreated stormwater flows into Clarks Creek. Additional benefits of the project include: repair failing roadways, improve safety by adding separated sidewalks and cycle tracks, increase utility capacity, demonstrate the application and benefits of LID with real-time data, provide water quality data for WSU-based research for LID Best Management Practices, and dramatically improve local water quality through on-site stormwater management. The project will replace existing impervious roadways with pervious concrete and porous asphalt, add pervious concrete sidewalks, and install rain gardens in the medians and sidewalk setback areas.