Government agencies should consider water supply in all land-use-related planning activities, including transportation, housing, and all other types of construction. Such coordination is extremely rare. In Seattle, Washington, for example, a recent low-income housing redevelopment plan – over 100 acres – came to the attention of the City’s stormwater program only after the project was under development.

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Although certain management practices, such as infiltration of stormwater in right–of¬-way and parking lot areas could still be implemented, it was too late in the redevelopment process for others. For example, many home sites were built on the most permeable soils, sacrificing an essential groundwater infiltration opportunity. If coordination with water resource and quality agencies during the planning process had been a requirement of any public funding supporting the redevelopment, such essential design considerations would not have been left to chance.