Wake Up Call

It takes alot to get us up early in the morning, but the Technology Alliance's Science and Technology Discovery Series continues to impress. This past Friday, Dr. John Stark, Director of the Puyallup Research & Extension Center, Washington State University, gave an informative presentation on the effect of pesticides on salmon. Surprising, it's not the pesticides that may directly harm the salmon. The pesticides kill the salmon's food. Detergents, even ones that may be considered benign, actually DO harm the fish directly by coating the gills of the salmon. 

But it's not all bad news. WSU Puyallup is retrofitting their campus to reduce stormwater runoff, a major source of pollution in the Puget Sound. They'll also measure the effectiveness of various low impact development practices such as installation of permeable paving surfaces and stormwater bioretention facilities. As we are heavily involved in stormwater best practices education, we're anxious to see what proves to be most effective and what can be adopted throughout Puget Sound.