December 16th at Ivar's Salmon House: Annual AWRA-WA Dinner Meeting
The AWRA Washington Section is planning its next dinner meeting, bringing together water resources professionals, students, and industry leaders for an evening of networking, knowledge sharing, and discussion on topics shaping the future of water management in our region. The event includes board elections, membership updates, dinner, and a presentation from Bea Covington from Greene Economics on the growing intersection of data centers and water resources.
Date: December 16th, 2026, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Location: Ivar's Salmon House, 401 NE Northlake Way Ste A, Seattle, WA 98105
Exploring Stormwater Solutions Across Seattle
Caption: Thornton Creek. Photo credit: Maria Saltysiak, Jacobs Engineering
On October 30, the AWRA Washington Section welcomed a diverse group of students, utility professionals, consultants, and contractors for a guided tour of Seattle-area stormwater facilities led by Jacobs Engineering. Despite steady rainfall throughout much of the event, the wet weather provided an ideal opportunity to observe stormwater infrastructure operating in real time. Participants visited Meadowbrook Pond, a regional-scale stormwater facility and stormwater park that provides watershed-scale drainage management and end-of-pipe water quality treatment. Discussions focused on balancing water quality, flood control, and community benefits, as well as the operations, maintenance, and stewardship considerations needed to support long-term facility performance.
The tour also included several natural drainage system (NDS) and bioretention facilities in Seattle's Wedgwood neighborhood, highlighting how distributed green stormwater infrastructure can be integrated into dense urban settings to support infiltration, groundwater recharge, and neighborhood-scale resilience. Conversations emphasized the importance of collaboration among agencies such as Seattle Public Utilities, the Seattle Department of Transportation, and King County, along with the reality that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to stormwater management. Together, the sites demonstrated how communities are implementing a range of innovative strategies to address watershed needs while adapting to site constraints, urbanization, and long-term stewardship requirements.
Is there an event you’d like to see AWRA-WA organize? Do you have a water resources topic you want to present? Are you interested in hosting a field tour? If you answered yes to any of these questions, please reach out to our Events Committee Chairs, Katherine Taiclet and Jason McCormick, and we’ll be happy to work with you to make it happen.
