Fairhaven - Stormwater Discovery Tours

The Fairhaven Stormwater Discovery Tour is an opportunity to learn how the City is managing stormwater runoff and reducing urban water pollution. On this tour, you will see how these features are seamlessly integrated into a vibrant urban setting. This tour will introduce you to five different types of stormwater facilities: a state-of-the-art bioscape, a huge underground vault, rain gardens, and a gravel filter and interesting features along the way.

Fairhaven’s historic ambiance and setting near the bay make it a place people want to be. On the flip side, this urban environment increases stormwater runoff close to the bay and Padden Creek. With all the hard surfaces, it’s hard for nature to do its job of absorbing and collecting all that stormwater. Rain that isn’t absorbed, flows into Padden Creek.

You can also take a side trip up the Interurban Trail to see examples of habitat restoration at Padden Creek which is heavily impacted by stormwater runoff. The Padden Creek watershed drains an area from the foothills above Lake Padden, through Happy Valley and Fairhaven, all the way to Bellingham Bay. Learn more about the City’s Padden Creek Daylighting project.

approximate distance

0.5

miles

approximate time

minutes

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safest tour route

connecting route

site locations

information signage

water feature

points of interest

All of the facilities on this tour are accessible by car, bus, sidewalk, and neighborhood trails. The tour is pedestrian friendly. Most of the sites are accessible for wheelchairs except for the gravel trail at the 10th Street rain garden and the South Bay Trail rain garden.

This tour is accessible with a wheelchair.