The City has been conducting an Open Space Planning process to identify high-priority upland areas for conservation on Bainbridge Island. View the Draft Map, and if you have comments, questions, or suggestions, please contact Watershed Council member Jeanne Huber.

The Gardens (and the weather) were beautiful this year and we want to especially thank Tish Treherne for her hospitality.  Our booth had a great reception in her garden and we had a wonderful time meeting so many of you interested in learning about LID, Water Catchment and Rain Gardens.  In fact so many of you were interested in "pervious pavement" and cisterns that we ran out of our handouts!  Well, you're in luck, because we have them here on our website.  Cistern information is on our DRIP subcommittee page and "pervious pavement" information can be found on our LID page.  Thanks again for stopping by!

On May 22, Watershed Council co-sponsored an event organized by BAPS  about Bainbridge Island's nearshore environment, as part of a concerted effort to promote education and awareness as the City works to incorporate Marine Critical Areas language into the Critical Areas Ordinance. About 100 people attended this three-part talk and discussion lead by local experts in nearshore natural resources. Read more about the event here.

The Bainbridge Island Watershed Council applauds and thanks the Earth Service Corps for this important work they are doing to reduce our stormwater runoff impacts on our water quality and environment. 

Tad Sooter reported on their efforts in the Bainbridge Review.  The full article can be read here.

Protected from grime by hot-pink gloves, and armed with a crowbar, Bainbridge High School student Robert Curran pried back the grate covering a Winslow Way stormwater drain. Curran, along with Natasha Hjerrild and Katherine Yagle, were getting grubby last week, fitting filters in downtown drains. Signs embedded in the roadway beside the openings remind passersby that rains sweep pollutants and debris off the pavement, though stormwater pipes and into Eagle Harbor. But for a few dozen island drains the Earth Service Corps members act as gatekeepers for the bay, installing and maintaining filters that remove much of the chemicals and nutrients that make runoff a major contributor of pollution in Puget Sound.

Using Associated Student Body funds, the club has been quietly performing the service for years. But this spring they're spreading the word about their program in the hopes that a larger organization, ideally the city, will take on the challenge and begin stormwater filtration on a grander scale...