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"Saving Puget Sound is the topic of the day, the topic of the year, the topic of the decade."
—Jean-Michel Cousteau
Looks Can be Deceiving
On the surface, Puget Sound still looks terrific; yet underneath there are alarming signals that the ecosystem is in trouble. We must take action now to prevent irreversible decline.
Among the many Puget Sound species listed as threatened or endangered are: orcas, otters, steelhead, salmon, bull trout, albatross, pelicans and sea turtles.
Today there are far fewer shorebirds – nearly a 50 percent decline in just the past two decades.
Thousands of acres of commercial shellfish beds are closed because the clams, mussels and oysters are unsafe for us to eat.
The state Department of Health keeps a list of Puget Sound beaches that are not safe for swimming because they are contaminated with bacteria.
And in Hood Canal, there are dead zones – areas without enough oxygen in the water to support life -- with signs that new dead zones are emerging in other parts of the Sound.
The Causes
Population growth and development have taken a toll on Puget Sound. Nearly four million people live in 115 cities and towns around the Sound, and more keep coming – 1.5 million more in the next twenty years. That’s like adding a city the size of Portland.
One-third of the households around Puget Sound rely on septic systems, many of them old or leaking, which send raw sewage into the Sound.
Every day, treated wastewater flushes into Puget Sound, along with toxic chemicals.
Two million acres of forest at the base of our mountains has been cut, paved and built up in less than one generation – that’s an area as large as King and Pierce counties combined.
Our cities and suburbs are built so that less rainwater is absorbed where it falls, and more rainwater picks up chemicals and oil as it washes over roofs and roads into storm drains that empty into the Sound. This “stormwater runoff” is the number one cause of pollution in Puget Sound.
The Sound is at a Tipping Point — We Can’t Wait
Like our bodies, natural systems have a remarkable capacity for healing. However, with the significant level of harm to the ecosystem, we are now exceeding Puget Sound’s recuperative powers.
We share this region with thousands of other plant and animal species that depend on each other for their continued existence. Taking effective action now will determine whether there will be a legacy for future generations to cherish in Puget Sound.