WA Dept of Ecology – TMDL Project Lead; Environmental Specialist – Water Quality

Salary: $69,348.00 – $93,288.00 Annually

Location:

Yakima County – Union Gap, WA

Job Type: Full Time – Permanent

Remote Employment:
Flexible/Hybrid

Job Number: 2026-WQ

Department:
Dept. of Ecology

Division:
Water Quality

Opening Date: 09/10/2026

Closing Date:
Continuous

Salary Information:
The high end of the salary range, Step M is typically a longevity step

Keeping Washington Clean and Evergreen

The Department of Ecology is hiring a TMDL Project Lead (Environmental Specialist
4) within the Water Quality Program.

• Central Region Office in Union Gap, WA.
• Upon hire, you must live within a commutable distance from the duty station.

• This position is eligible for telework and flexible schedule options.
• Five days per week are required in the office during the first month in the position. Afterwards, you may be eligible to telework most of your work time with occasional in-person meetings and activities.
• Schedules are dependent upon position needs and are subject to change.

• Apply by September 27, 2026
• Applications submitted after the date above may not be reviewed unless additional qualified applicants are needed.

Are you interested in working with communities to improve water quality? Do you enjoy building collaborative relationships to address challenging environmental conditions? Washington State is at the forefront of addressing nonpoint sources of water pollution and finding creative ways to clean up watersheds. Ecology’s Water Quality Program has a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) project lead position to fill in Central Washington.

In this position, you will work with community members and leaders in developing water cleanup projects to address known water quality challenges. You will find solutions to water quality challenges, connect with the local communities, and discuss the science of water quality along with the influences of land use on water quality. Your responsibilities will also include developing Advance Restoration projects (ARP) and Straight To Implementation (STI) projects to shorten the timelines for water quality improvement.

You will primarily cover the Yakima River Watershed, which extends from the snowpacks on the Cascade crest to the dry and near desert conditions of the Columbia River Valley. The variety of environmental conditions of Central Washington provides variety in environmental work and recreational opportunities. The Central Region also tends to be an affordable and uncrowded region of Washington.

What you will do:

• Become familiar with and knowledgeable about the watershed that you are working in, including the land uses and characteristics of the communities within the watersheds.
• Involve key interest groups and organizations to effectively conduct technical studies, develop water quality implementation control strategies, and write TMDLs to protect and restore impaired waters.
• Coordinate and communicate with Tribes, local governments and other watershed groups during the development and implementation of TMDL, ARP, or STI projects.
• Monitor and report on progress of implementation measures toward meeting water quality standards as specified in the water cleanup plans.
• Represent Ecology at legal and public hearings and conferences regarding Water Cleanup Plans.
• Conduct or provide support to the CRO Watershed Unit on non-point pollution voluntary corrective actions as well as formal regulatory enforcement efforts for non-point pollution issues. This includes developing regional non-point compliance documents such as Requests for Enforcement (RFE) and Administrative Orders (AO).

For detailed information on how we calculate experience and responses to other frequently asked questions, please visit our Recruitment…