Port of Seattle: a 2026–2030 plan for improved stormwater management

The Port of Seattle’s Marine Stormwater Utility division has released its new 2026–2030 Strategic Plan, in collaboration with the Northwest Seaport Alliance and the firm E.A. Engineering, Science, and Technology (both members of Green Marine).

Each year, roughly one billion gallons of rain fall on the approximately 1,000 acres of the Port of Seattle’s maritime properties, generating large volumes of stormwater runoff that must be managed. This runoff can carry hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and sediments into aquatic environments, causing direct impacts on marine wildlife, coastal ecosystems, and neighbouring communities. That's why the Marine Stormwater Utility was created in 2014 to support a sustainable maritime industry through innovative stormwater management that benefits local communities and marine life.

 The 2026–2030 Plan builds on the first 2021–2025 Strategic Plan, which had already organized priorities around infrastructure rehabilitation, sustainability, habitat restoration, and resilience.

The plan highlights the following key priorities:

• Infrastructure resilience: adapting an aging network of more than 70 miles of stormwater pipes to the realities of climate change, including sea‑level rise and more intense rainfall.
• Sustainability: scaling up sustainable stormwater management solutions (green stormwater infrastructure) and aligning with the Port’s climate and decarbonization goals.
• Regulatory compliance: maintaining, and where possible exceeding, federal, state, and local water quality requirements.
• Equity and inclusion: integrating the needs of historically marginalized communities into project design and siting.

Underlying these priorities, the plan advances the goals of the “Century Agenda,” which aims, among other objectives, to make the Port of Seattle the greenest and most energy‑efficient port in North America.

Image: Non-infiltrating bioretention stormwater treatment at Terminal 106 (Port of Seattle)