The City of Tacoma has applied for five grants from the Washington State Department of Ecology totaling nearly $7.7 million, according to Tacoma City Manager T. C. Broadnax’s weekly report to Tacoma City Council dated Nov. 25, 2014. City staff report that if grants are awarded, the City would be required to provide approximately $1.9 million in matching funds.

Here is a short breakdown of each project, grant fund request, and matching fund amounts:

Prairie Line Trail Treatment Retrofit — A nearly $308,000 grant would help pay for a project to incorporate highly visible and educational stormwater treatment facilities into a two-block section of Tacoma’s Prairie Line Trail, between South 15th and 17th Streets, in downtown Tacoma. If a grant is awarded, the City would need to provide $77,000 in matching funds.

South Tacoma Way Green Infrastructure Project — A nearly $2.1 million grant would help pay for a project that aims to improve water quality and reduce stormwater runoff through infiltration in a four-block section of the South Tacoma Way business district, between South 52nd Street and South 56th Street. If a grant is awarded, the City would need to provide $522,500 in matching funds.

Bennett Street Pervious Project — A nearly $430,000 grant would help pay for a pilot project that aims to reduce the roadway footprint, while providing water quality and infiltration within the North Tacoma Watershed. Replacing gravel with a hard surface is expected to reduce the particulate pollution caused from the area’s high arsenic levels as a result of the Asarco Smelter. If a grant is awarded, the City would need to provide $107,477 in matching funds.

Madison and Monroe Permeable Neighborhood Project — A nearly $2.4 million grant would help pay for a project to convert two failed residential streets into green infrastructure using pervious pavement. The project covers six city blocks and will fully infiltrate a six-acre neighborhood. If a grant is awarded, the City would need to provide $590,125 in matching funds.

40th Street Green Infrastructure Project — A nearly $2.5 million grant would help pay for a project to provide water quality and flow reduction for 17 acres by using permeable pavement to retrofit 1,700 linear feet of existing residential road, as well as constructing bioretention to treat runoff from adjacent existing roadways. If a grant is awarded, the City would need to provide $616,750 in matching funds.

Earlier this year, the City accepted $3.5 million in grants from the Washington State Department of Ecology for a range of projects designed to reduce stormwater runoff throughout Tacoma (see “$3.5M Dept. of Ecology grants will support Tacoma stormwater projects,” Tacoma Daily Index, May 2, 2014; and “City Hall News: Downtown Tacoma hotel development, $3.5M Dept. of Ecology grants, and Alder Lake project update,” Tacoma Daily Index, April 11, 2014; and “City Hall News: Tacoma Smelter Plume cleanup, public art restoration project and Presidents Day,” Tacoma Daily Index, Feb. 14, 2014).