Fairhaven
Fairhaven
Fairhaven
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.
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.
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Fairhaven is a vibrant urban setting with a history of development dating back to the mid-1800s.
In the 1800's, Harris Avenue was a dirt road ending at Deadman's Point. Imagine the stormwater runoff generated as people, carriages, and horses churned their way into the 21st century.
This is the view down Harris Avenue. Most of the stormwater generated from Fairhaven and some of South Hill Neighborhood flows down pipes under this street to Padden Creek.
Plantings in front of the townhomes treat stormwater onsite. This low impact landscaping intentionally minimizes runoff from this development.
Look for Fairhaven, Happy Valley, South Hill, and downtown Bellingham's waterfront. Padden Creek winds its way to the bay.
Stormwater runoff captures many things from streets including oils, sediment, garbage, and leaves as shown here on Harris Avenue in Fairhaven.
Along its winding path to the Padden Estuary, Padden Creek picks up cleaned stormwater runoff entering the stream at numerous points.
This fish ladder on Padden Creek can be seen near the Interurban Trail which connects people walking along Padden Creek all the way to the Bay.
From this trail, explore upstream to the recently day-lighted creek that was once an underground culvert. The creek now allows salmon to spawn farther upstream.
The restoration at Padden Creek benefits us all. It's an example of a coordinated and sustained effort to bring back natural functions of the creek.
The Alaska Ferry docking at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal and the Community Boating Center are part of the economy and vibe of life in Fairhaven.
Padden Estuary is a life-giving rearing area for many species of salmon that enter Padden Creek here including Chinook, Coho, chum salmon, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout.
