Key Trends

Key Trends Shaping Our Future

King County is facing critical—and expensive—decisions that will affect the region’s water quality. We all have important decisions to make, so we’re reviewing current and future trends, and talking to experts in the field and community members who see and experience changes in our region each day.

Click the photos below to learn more about the key trends that we are considering as we develop the Clean Water Plan.

Water Quality Protections
  • The region has made significant water quality accomplishments. Fifty years ago, millions of gallons of untreated sewage flowed daily into Lake Washington. Today, it’s one of the cleanest urban lakes in the world.
  • There is more work to do:
    • Water temperature is getting warmer, which is worse for fish.
    • Water does not always meet state standards for certain criteria, including bacteria and dissolved oxygen.
    • Historically contaminated sediments persist in the region’s waters.
    • Emerging contaminants are being detected but not fully understood.
  • Due to historical and systemic inequities, underrepresented communities do not experience the same quality of life as white residents. This includes exposure to pollution.
Environmental Indicators
  • Declining numbers of Puget Sound southern resident orca, indicating that this population is at risk of extinction.
  • Declining salmon populations, particularly from urban rivers.
  • Declining aquatic habitat in urban and urbanizing areas.
Funding and Financing
  • Cost of living and of doing business continues to increase in the region.
  • Financing water quality improvements is becoming increasingly expensive.
  • There are not many federal grants or much loan funding available for wastewater facilities, and limited availability is expected into the future.
  • Affordable housing is one of the region’s most pressing issues and disproportionately affects historically underrepresented communities, including people of color and Native communities.
Population Growth
  • The central Puget Sound Region is projected to add 1.7 million residents and 1.2 million jobs by 2050. Much of this growth will occur in King County.
Aging Infrastructure
  • The region’s wastewater facilities (pipes, pumps, and treatment plants) are aging. Some of these facilities are approaching the end of their useful lives.
Regulatory Requirements
  • State and federal water pollution control regulations are expected to become more stringent in the decades ahead.
  • There may be new requirements to:
    • Remove nutrients that can cause harm to fish, such as nitrogen in wastewater.
    • Remove contaminants of emerging concern, such as medicines and cleaning products, from wastewater.
    • Increase stormwater treatment.
Climate Change
  • Scientists predict that climate change will bring sea-level rise, more rain in the winter, and higher temperatures to the region.
Technology
  • There are ongoing improvements in wastewater treatment and water pollution control technologies.
  • Installing and operating technology is expensive. Future costs to install and operate new technologies are uncertain.
Other Trends