Seattle's Stormwater Facility Credit Program: Incentivizing Onsite Stormwater Management

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) has implemented a Stormwater Facility Credit Program (SFCP) to encourage customers to install stormwater management facilities that treat and detain stormwater runoff on site. These onsite stormwater management facilities, or best management practices (BMPs), reduce the amount of stormwater runoff and associated pollutants from private properties that would otherwise enter the City's storm drainage network. The SFCP offers stormwater facility credits, applied as a percentage discount off a customer's annual drainage bill (up to a maximum 50 percent discount), for eligible BMPs that have been properly installed and maintained. Eligible BMPs include rainwater cisterns, vegetated roofs, bioswales, permeable pavement, rain gardens, stormwater vaults, and oil-water separators, among many other types of facilities. The SFCP is intended to increase environmental stewardship among Seattle residents, reduce stormwater runoff and pollutant loadings to the City's storm drainage network, and improve the equity of annual drainage charges.