Vision to Reality: Building Community Through a Wet Weather Treatment Facility

BACKGROUND King County is executing a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) aimed at reducing CSOs into local water bodies and protecting public health and the environment. The Georgetown Wet Weather Treatment System (GWWTS) is one of 14 Consent Decree projects in the LTCP. The remote GWWTS improves the resiliency of the regional King County wastewater system by capturing and treating 95 percent of the CSOs at two CSO outfalls into the Lower Duwamish Waterway. The GWWTS will operate an average of approximately 20 times per year, processing about 265 megaliters (70 million gallons) of wastewater annually. Construction began in late 2017 and achieved substantial completion in December 2022. The GWWTS is located in a dense urban neighborhood (Figure 1) surrounded by residential housing, commercial businesses, and light and heavy industrial facilities. Georgetown is a close-knit community that is diverse and home to many artists. King County's goal was to design a station that not only improves water quality in the Lower Duwamish waterway but also builds community by addressing the County's equity and social justice goals. King County developed a proactive community engagement plan to design a facility that reflected neighborhood values. OBJECTIVES The objectives of involving the community in the design of the GWWTS were: (1) identify community goals, and issues, (2) align the project vision and goals to the needs and goals of the community, and (3) implement design features that address those needs and goals. METHODOLOGY Two plans were developed at the beginning of the project to take into account community needs, goals, and issues.

*GWWTS Design Phase Public Involvement Plan (PIP) — The PIP was developed to identify and provide a profile of community needs, goals, and issues. The issues of the community were identified through a variety of methods including feedback at community briefings and drop-in sessions, direct verbal and written input, and Design Advisory Group (DAG) comments.

*Equity and social justice action plan (ESJ plan) — The plan sought to have the project team improve the determinants of equity in the Georgetown neighborhood through project commitments that relate directly to known community values, regulatory requirements and sustainability actions. Community values identified were documented through conversations and interviews with community members, community survey results, meetings with a community DAG and the Georgetown Neighborhood Plan. Implementation of these plans extensively involved the Georgetown community in the design process through:

*DAG meetings

*Community briefings

*Community surveys

*Community meetings

*Dozens of listserv communications, project updates, and newsletters

*Hundreds of phone calls, emails, and one-on-one conversations Through these many forms of communications, the project team learned that the top community issues were air and water quality improvements, pedestrian safety, and open or green space improvements. Community members highlighted the need for the site to serve as a 'gateway' to Georgetown. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The community engagement resulted in a number of design elements, measures during construction, and collaborations to benefit the community. These included:

*The GWWTS design fits in with the industrial character of the corner while highlighting architecturally innovative design.

*Water conservation through a green roof on the operations and education center is shown (Figure 2). Site wide water cisterns (Figure 3) collect rainwater which is then used to irrigate the landscaping.

*Facility landscaping includes trees specifically chosen for their air quality benefits.

*King County's collaboration with the community to improve air and water quality extended beyond the GWWTS. A 'green wall' of planters extends down a nearby city block. By partnering with a local community, a local grocery store has rain gardens and cisterns with interpretive signage (Figure 4).

*During construction, King County managed a 24-hour project hotline with a commitment to respond within one day to all issues and concerns.

*The community expressed a desire to understand when the station was operational and improving water quality. A piece of art called 'Theater of a Storm' developed by a lighting designer illuminates successive treatment processes as the station begins receiving wet weather flow and flow progresses through the station. The multi-colored LED lighting of facilities is shown in Figure 5. When the station is not operating, LED lighting is deployed to create a visually appealing station at night.

*Public art commissioned as part of the project connects the neighborhood to its own weather and experience of rain. The artwork, called a rain monument, is shown in Figure 5. During dry weather, rain falls down the inside of the cylindrical monument with the intensity of the previous storm. During a rain event, there is no rain in the monument. Public outreach to include the community in the design of the station resulted in many positive developments beyond improving the water quality in the Lower Duwamish Waterway. Through careful planning, listening to the community, and incorporating community identified design elements, the GWWTS is a gateway and community asset benefiting both the environment and the people who live, work, and play in Georgetown.