Soil And Wetland Services

Thurston County * Mason County * Pierce County * Lewis County * Grays Harbor County

Lisa M. Palazzi is a SSA Certified Professional Soil Scientist and a Certified Professional Wetland Scientist. She attained her Bachelor's degree in 1985, graduating with the highest honors from Montana State University with a major in Soil Science and a minor in English Composition. Her master's thesis, completed at Oregon State University in 1989, was centered on forest science and soil physics - the study of water and heat transport in soils. Her graduate research focused on characterization of the physical processes behind seasonal changes in soil water content and its effect on soil heat storage soil temperature changes and seedling survival and stress response.


JWM&A specializes in:

Low Impact Development Septic System Design Assistance     Soil Texture     Structure/Interpretation of Soil Characteristics     Hydrologic Conditions Soil Mapping Stormwater Facility Design Assistance     Site Groundwater/Basin Hydrology     Soil Texture     Shallow Groundwater     Treatment Potential     Soil Erosion Potential     Re-vegetation Surface /Near Surface Hydrology

Surface/Shallow Ground Water Monitoring Environmental Assessment     Evaluation of Potentially Contaminated Soils Wetland Assessment     Delineation     Classification     Inventory     Permitting     Mitigation     Erosion control     Hydrology Monitoring     Enhancement     Restoration

JWM&A is committed to bringing you the highest quality professional land surveying services available.

Professional Affiliations:
Soil Science Society of America
Council of Soil Science of Examiners
International Union of Soil Sciences
National Society of Consulting Soil Scientist
(Past PNW Director and Past Secretary ?Treasurer)
WA Society of Professional Soil Scientist
(Past Secretary - Treasurer)
U.S. National Committee for Soil Science
Building Soil Foundation for Success
Society of Wetland Scientist
International Erosion Control Association
WA St. Environmental Health Association
WA Organic Recycling Council

Ms. Palazzi has also provided assistance in writing local and state-wide legislation and model ordinances that affect regulations about storm water and related hydrology issues.

Ms. Palazzi's background in post-graduate research included participation in an interdisciplinary team of Oregon St. University scientists studying ecosystem function of riparian systems in the disturbed watersheds of Oregon's Coast Range. The research was focused on assessment and management of fisheries habitat, erosion control processes, silviculture projects, and wildlife habitat enhancement. Projects included stream reach restoration, landslide modeling, stream hydrology modeling, and extensive planting of conifer seedlings in alder dominated riparian and upland zones. Later, working for the USFS PNW Research Lab in Olympia, Ms. Palazzi worked on statistical analysis of a large, long term silviculture fertilization database and on an extensive field project researching soil compaction, and erosion effects in clear-cut skid trails. Following that, she opened Pacific Rim Soil and Water Inc., and successfully provided expert wetlands, soils and hydrology assessment services in western Washington since 1991.

Ms. Palazzi previous president and principal scientist of Pacific Rim Soil & Water, Inc., announced in early August, 2011 their merger into Jerome W. Morrissette & Associates Inc., P.S., enabling past/present/new clients to receive a broader range of services.

Low Impact Development
Understanding how natural soils and groundwater systems interact make us uniquely capable of providing valuable information about when and how Low Impact Development (LID) technologies might best be applied on a site. Ms. Palazzi will apply her expert knowledge of soils, hydrology and plants to help select and apply appropriate LID technologies on your site. LID technologies can and have been misapplied, but when used correctly, can result in great benefits to both the developer and the community.

Rain gardens
Rain gardens provide a sustainable approach to stormwater management. While continued population growth is inevitable, we can take our cues from nature on how to better manage onsite stormwater. Through the use of LID techniques, we can mimic the pre-development hydrology. Ever increasing stormwater runoff deteriorates water quality, increases erosion and sediment loads, degrades habitat, and decreases summer stream and river flows. While conventional systems have reduced runoff, they are often costly, unsightly and difficult to maintain.

Vegetation
Native vegetation reduces stormwater runoff through interception and evaporation. Plant roots stabilize the soil, decrease erosion and absorb soil moisture. Roots also increase aeration of soil and create flow paths for infiltrating water. Plants physically attenuate flow of stormwater across the soil surface and filter out sediments. Through phytoremediation, plants immobilize metals and assimilate and break down organic pollutants, increasing overall water quality. Native vegetation encourages a healthy and balanced community of soil organisms that aid in decomposition and soil amelioration, and provides the highest habitat value for native wildlife. For all of these reasons, retention of existing vegetation at the onset of a development project along with increasing plantings of native plants at any stage during a development's life span are crucial to hydrologic function.

Soils
Current development practices detrimentally alter the hydrologic function of native soils. Surface layers are cleared or highly compacted; soil biological activity is reduced; and deep-rooted vegetation, which fosters infiltration & aeration, is replaced by a shallow-rooted monoculture of seeded grass.

By using LID techniques such as retaining existing soil and vegetation, minimizing compaction during construction and using less invasive stormwater management techniques such as rain gardens at the onset of the design process, these problems may be avoided.

Septic System Design Assistance
Soil attributes that affect septic system design, including determining soil texture and structure, and interpreting soil characteristics that indicate depth to a seasonal water table or hydrologic conditions that limit drainage and treatment potential.

Soil Mapping
Land use is controlled to a great degree by site history and potential contamination sources, and by interactions between land forms and the associated soil's physical properties, such as erosion potential, slope stability, soil drainage class, or soil texture.

Our familiarity with local soils and geomorphology greatly enhances the quality of our site and hydrologic interpretations. Ms. Palazzi will interpret existing soil and geomorphic information at each site and, if necessary, complete a small-scale soil survey or soil testing project at an appropriate level of detail.


Stormwater Facility Design Assistance
Our stormwater facility design assistance involves: Assessing soils, including monitoring and evaluating site groundwater and basin hydrology. Assessing soil textural and structural to determine infiltration rates. Running Massman Equations per new regional stormwater management guidelines and regulations. Assessing effect of shallow groundwater on facility function, stormwater treatment potential, soil erosion potential, erosion and sediment control, and re-vegetation.

Surface and Shallow Groundwater Monitoring Using state-of-the-art programmable dataloggers in concert with local or regional precipitation databases, Ms. Palazzi can collect data in monitoring wells or stormwater facilities, and demonstrate how those surfaces respond to real-time storm events.

This data can be used to:

- Prove that a storm water facility is (or is not) functioning as designed.
- Show how a natural groundwater table responds to seasonal storm events.

Surface and Near Surface Hydrology Our functional understanding of water flow across a site, through site soils, or through a watershed, as well as familiarity with soil attributes that affect potential for erosion, runoff, contamination and related water quality or quantity issues are fundamental for almost any project affected by seasonal or year-round water flows, common in the Pacific Northwest.

Site-specific information about soils and shallow groundwater is essential to fully utilize the potential of the natural on-site soil/plant/water system as a root- growth foundation, a treatment medium and a water quality buffer. Ms. Palazzi can evaluate and describe key geomorphologic, soil and hydrologic characteristics that will affect site vegetation, surface and shallow subsurface water control and treatment systems.

Wetland Inventory At any level needed, using a combination of skilled aerial photo and map interpretation, familiarity with local plant species and soils, and competent field work, Ms. Palazzi can inventory, classify, rate, or delineate wetlands as well as characterize near-surface hydrology of the associated drainage basin. We also provide wetland mitigation and permitting services and assistance as needed.

Wetland Technology Wetland technology in stormwater or natural hydrologic systems (the application of known wetland functions and processes related to manipulation of plants, soils and hydrology) can be used in riparian or upland stormwater or natural systems to improve water quality, wildlife habitat and other landscape-level properties. Depending on project needs, the technology can be applied for many diverse purposes, from erosion control to stormwater treatment to recharge of groundwater to flood control. Ms. Palazzi will apply knowledge of soil hydrology and associated soil/plant/water systems to help design and apply site specific, appropriate technologies necessary to meet project goals.

Ms. Palazzi has a well-established reputation as a regional leader in evaluating, mapping, characterizing, and monitoring wetland/upland soils and soil hydrology in freshwater, estuarine, and saltwater systems. She specializes in soil physics (saturated and unsaturated groundwater flow) and soil morphology assessment.

She understands upland and wetland hydrologic systems, and has extensive experience in monitoring soil hydrology, with emphasis on data that affect:

• Wetland management
• Stormwater management design
• Low impact development strategies
• Septic system design

In addition, Ms. Palazzi has extensive experience with all aspects of wetland and stream characterization, including:

• Surface and shallow groundwater monitoring
• Surface and near surface hydrology
• Wetland rating and functional analysis
• Wetland mitigation design and monitoring
• Project permitting