The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA)
program accelerates investment in our nation's water
infrastructure by providing long-term, low-cost supplemental
loans for regionally and nationally significant projects.

KING COUNTY SHIP CANAL WATER QUALITY PROJECT

BORROWER: King County
LOCATION: King County, Washington

WIFIA LOAN AMOUNT: $96.8 million
TOTAL WIFIA PROJECT COSTS: $197.6 million
POPULATION SERVED BY PROJECT: 175,000 people
NUMBER OF JOBS CREATED: 632 jobs

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Ship Canal Water Quality Project will improve water quality by reducing the volume of
combined sewer overflow discharges into Lake Washington Ship Canal, which flows into the
Puget Sound, by about 90 percent. The project will build an offline storage tunnel to capture
untreated stormwater and sewage during heavy storms and temporarily hold it until the West
Point Treatment Plant is able to process it. The project is designed to meet the Consent
Agreement requirement to control combined sewer overflow discharges at six locations.

PROJECT BENEFITS

•	Improves water quality in the Puget Sound and its tributary, the Lake Washington Ship
Canal, by reducing the number of combined sewer overflows from 8.5 per year to 1 per
year.

•	Reduces the pollutant discharge load by 84% per year.

•	Meets requirements of a Consent Agreement with U.S. EPA and the Washington
Department of Ecology.

•	Saves King County an estimated $34 million from financing with a WIFIA loan.

WIFIA

PROGRAM

United States
Environmental Protection
kl m % Agency

WEBSITE: www.epa.gov/wifia
EMAIL: wifia@EPA.gov


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