In 2019, the City of Tacoma Environmental Services (ES) launched an art campaign to educate and inspire the community about stormwater. Stormwater flows directly into local waterways from streets, sidewalks, and other outdoor areas. This stormwater can bring toxic pollutants into the Puget Sound and then the Pacific Ocean. The campaign, with the catchy slogan, “If It Hits the Ground, It Hits the Sound,” uses visual, meaningful local art pieces to communicate the impacts of stormwater pollution.

A distributed energy system can provide great opportunities for a municipal district looking to take advantage of a community’s nearby resources. Such a system adopts either a central plant or “microgrid” concept to leverage fuel flexibility for centralized energy delivery.