Presentaion by: Renee Quenneville

1. Pierce
County
Public
Works
&
U4li4es
Surface
Water
Management
Watershed
Health
Data
Website

2. Background
Informa4on
• Problem: Surface Water Management (SWM) collects watershed health
monitoring data and had no public forum to easily share the
data with the Public.
• Solution: GIS Specialist/Database Administrator team assigned project
to develop an interactive web-based data center.
• Interdepartmental Project: PC GIS/SWM Technology staff and Public
Works Communication & Accountability
developed product for Public GIS

3. Data
Collected
by
SWM
Monitoring
Staff:
Monthly Water Quality Monitoring: Over 50 streams are sampled
monthly.
Shellfish Monitoring: Each quarter outfalls along Burley Lagoon, Rocky
Creek and Filucy Bay are sampled.
Weather Stations- 16 stations
County Maintained Pond Levels- 4 with remote pond level access
Ground Water Well Levels- 18 wells
Biological Assessment macro invertebrate count (bugs)
completed on streams every 5 years.
SWM Capitol Improvement Project Support
**National Pollution Discharge Elimination System
Permit Support (NPDES): Our monitoring staff samples
three outfall sites, four Best Management Practices sites,
two program effectiveness studies and one flow reduction
assessment site for permit compliance purposes.

4. Jus4fica4on
Process:
• Survey: Completed with SWM staff, assessed the costs and time
associated with accessing/sharing our data
• Results: 240 work hours or $8,000 per year was spent on fulfilling
water quality data requests
• Lack of Transparency: Data only available through Public Information
Requests
• Mapping: No ability to show the public extent of
environmental monitoring

5. Development
Steps:
• SWM created the GIS feature
classes & ‘view’ to database
• Communication &
Accountability division of PW&U,
and SWM’s Education &
Outreach Coordinator developed
the look of the “Identify Results”
boxes
• Pierce County GIS built
the “Identify Results” boxes, linked
data & loaded the layer Into Public
GIS

6. Database
Export

7. Data
Available
for
Download

8. Link
to
Water
Quality
Website:
www.piercecountywa.org/watershedhealthdata
Renee Quenneville
GIS Specialist
rquenne@co.pierce.wa.us
253-798-4221