Rising Waters
Accelerating development in King County's rural eastern half (which doubled in population from 228,000 to more than 500,000 between 1960 and 1984) increased flooding and erosion in two ways. Roads, roofs, parking lots, and other impervious surfaces caused runoff of rainwater that previously the ground would have absorbed. And development eliminated wetlands and dammed or channeled streams that had accommodated excess stormwater.
Major efforts to deal with stormwater problems began under King County's first Executive, John Spellman, with the 1972 King County-Metro River Basin Coordinating Committee (RIBCO). Following a decade of study by RIBCO and its successors, the County Council in 1982 authorized exploration of creating a Surface Water Management utility. Under County Executive Randy Revelle, the Public Works Department undertook an extensive citizen participation program to help design the utility and identify priority flood-control projects -- and not incidentally to build support for the necessary charges, estimated at around $40 per year for a single-family home in the unincorporated areas to be served by the utility.
Revelle presented the drainage-utility proposal to the County Council in 1985, requesting that it be approved in time to begin operation in 1986. However, concern over the costs, the complicated details, and the need for school districts and other agencies to budget for large surface-water-management charges, led the Council to delay action for a year.
Addressing the Problem
Tim Hill had replaced Revelle as Executive by the time the Council ultimately approved the $8.4-million-per-year Surface Water Management program on April 29, 1986, by a vote of 8 to 1. Hill, who quickly signed the measure, said, "I am delighted. It means that King County can now begin addressing effectively stormwater problems that have plagued us for a long time" (Lane, "County Approves").
As adopted, the Surface Water Management charge amounted to about $30 per year for an average home in the unincorporated area. Homes with stormwater systems paid under $17, while highly developed properties like shopping centers paid just over $400 per acre. Hill acknowledged the additional tax burden, but also pointed out that the surface-water-management program would create new jobs. The funds raised were used to maintain existing stormwater systems and to build urgent projects identified by the citizens advisory committee, beginning in 1987 with 10 projects costing a total of $2.3 million.
Over the years, King County has continued to expand and improve its stormwater-management program, now administered by the Water and Land Resources Division of the Department of Natural Resources and Parks. However, it soon became apparent that merely trying to manage the effects of stormwater runoff was insufficient to end flooding and erosion.
The Next Step
By 1990, the County had identified some 280 projects necessary to protect residential, commercial, and public property from flooding. The combined cost was $60 million, but the Surface Water Management program provided only about $2.5 million per year for new projects (maintenance, planning, education, and overhead absorbed the remainder of the funds).
With flooding problems continuing, the County Council turned to the root of the problem, enacting the 1990 Sensitive Areas Ordinance to limit new development in or near wetlands, streams, and steep slopes, in an attempt to prevent flooding and erosion in the first place. The strict development-limits led to a backlash from some owners who claimed that their property rights were being taken without compensation. However, 14 years later, amid continuing concerns over flooding as well as habitat loss, the Council enacted an even stronger Critical Areas Ordinance, once again triggering a fierce reaction from property rights supporters.
