Mid Sound: Green Stormwater Infrastructure

Tanaka Cistern

This project was a cistern installation at a private residence in Woodinville, Washington. A 530 gallon cistern tank collects water from one downspout for reuse in backyard gardening beds, reducing the strain on municipal water sources and the local stormwater infrastructure, which eventually empties into Bear Creek.

Couvrette-Merrick Rain Garden

This project is a rain garden at a suburban residence near Woodinville, Washington. The garden collects 330 ft² of contributing area from the residence's roof and replaces a 96 ft² footprint of existing lawn. The garden has a ponding area of 18 ft², allowing for infiltration and storage of stormwater onsite. Previously runoff would empty directly into a county ditch which in turn empties into a tributary of Bear Creek. Providing a place for runoff management where it originates helps to reduce the burden on the existing stormwater system and the severity of flashy flows in creeks during flood events.

Cariello Rain Garden

This project is a rain garden at a suburban residence near Woodinville, Washington. Roof runoff is collected from an area of 344 ft² of and transported approximately 140 ft² to the rain garden. The garden replaces 140 ft² of existing lawn and has a ponding area of 21 ft². The garden is designed to overflow into a heavily wooded natural area, naturally managing all the runoff on property. Approximately 35 native plants were installed in the rain garden.

Maddex Native Plant Habitat

This installation was a habitat restoration project, replacing approximately 600 ft² of residential lawn abutting Lake Leota in Woodinville, Washington. Cold Creek flows through Lake Leota, proceeding to drain into Cottage Lake and then to Bear Creek. The lake is rimmed by private residences and the ecology of the lake has been greatly disturbed by human activity. At this site a rain garden wasn't feasible, as lakes such as this are sensitive to the various chemical inputs a rain garden might release into the water. Instead, sod was removed from between 600 and 1,000 ft² of existing lawn and replaced with a mix of native shrubs and trees by Mid Sound staff. The homeowner is steadily removing the remaining sod and the project is designed to soak up surface water that seasonally pools in this section of their yard.

Marais-Nason Native Plant Habitat

This installation was a habitat restoration project, replacing approximately 200 ft² of lakefront on Lake Leota in Woodinville, Washington. Cold Creek flows through Lake Leota, proceeding to drain into Cottage Lake and then to Bear Creek. The lake is rimmed by private residences and the ecology of the lake has been greatly disturbed by human activity. At this site a rain garden wasn't feasible, as lakes such as this are sensitive to the various chemical inputs a rain garden might release into the water. Instead, sod was removed from approximately 200 ft² of existing lawn and replaced with a mix of native shrubs and trees by Mid Sound staff. The homeowner is steadily removing the remaining sod and the project is designed to soak up surface water that seasonally pools in this section of their yard.

Hayward Cistern

This installation consists of two 420 gallon rainwater cisterns collecting water from 420 ft² of a residential roof near Cottage Lake, Washington. The wetlands around Cottage Lake represent the furthest upstream extent of Chinook habitat in this watershed currently. Historically, Chinook would have been present further upstream and repairing habitat conditions may eventually lead to their recovery locally. Prior to installation, the thousands of gallons of runoff emptied down a steep slope in the residence's backyard into Daniels Creek, a tributary creek of Cottage Lake. This retrofit will reduce the amount of runoff emptying onto a geologically risky slope, and redirect thousands of gallons each year back into the homeowner's landscape. A small submersible water pump was included in this design to draw the stored rainwater uphill to the areas it can be safely and effectively used.

Cower Rain Garden & Cistern

This project is a rain garden and cistern installation near Woodinville, Washington. The rain garden replaces an approximately 100 ft² area that was previously lawn. It collects runoff from 450 ft² of roof area and has a ponding area of 45 ft² for storage during infiltration. Two "slimline" style rainwater storage cisterns, each with a 265 gallon capacity, have been set up to collect runoff from the home's garage, as well. These cisterns will provide the homeowners with thousands of gallons of water to reuse on their property, reducing the amount needed to be drawn from municipal sources.

Banfield Cistern

This project is a cistern installation near Woodinville, Washington. This system is designed to collect roof runoff from 600 ft² and direct it into two 420 gallon cistern tanks at ground level below the home. Since the native landscape areas the homeowner is intending to supplement with the collected water are at a higher elevation than the collection point in the system a small submersible pump has been provided to draw water to its intended location.

Kohut Rain Garden & Cistern

This site, near Woodinville, Washington is a rural residence near Cottage Lake in the Bear Creek watershed. The homeowner opted for a cistern and a rain garden. The rain garden and cistern collect roof runoff from approximately 480 ft² and 160 ft² of contributing area, respectively. The rain garden replaces 113 ft² of lawn and has a ponding area of 49 ft². The cistern has a capacity of 265 gallons and is piped to overflow to the rain garden when full. The cistern provides for reuse of rainwater for the homeowner's orchard, landscape, and the establishment of rain garden plants.

Shelly Native Plant Habitat

This is a habitat restoration project at a private residence near Woodinville, Washington. Here, approximately 900 ft² of forested landscape collects runoff of an unknown origin, presumably coming from the upslope forest owned by a municipality. The runoff often forms surface flows and eventually empties into the homeowners driveway, scouring it, and then to a county ditch further downstream. The ditch itself eventually empties into Bear Creek. In this case, blackberry was removed from the site and a variety of water-loving native plants including dogwoods and willows were planted instead. This project will function to improve the water absorption capacity of the landscape, to reduce the severity of runoff moving across their property, and to eventually restore a healthy forest understory habitat at the site.

Bazaldua Rain Garden

This project is a rain garden installation at a suburban residence near Woodinville, Washington. The rain garden collects approximately 500 ft² of redirected roof runoff into a 130 ft² footprint with 40 ft² of ponding area. Stormwater is now treated onsite which would have previously entered the existing ditch and pipe infrastructure draining directly towards Bear Creek without attenuation.

Hannah Rain Garden

This installation is a rain garden at a private suburban residence adjacent to Bear Creek near Woodinville, Washington. The rain garden collects approximately 500 ft² of roof area and redirects the runoff to a 156 ft² rain garden with 51 ft² of ponding area. All of the runoff is anticipated to infiltrate vertically into the rain garden, rejoining the natural near-stream hydrology. Between 30 and 50 native plants have also been installed in the rain garden to be part of a healthy native landscape. Bear Creek is historically an important Chinook Salmon habitat and these stormwater retrofits are designed to improve habitat conditions for the native ecological community in and around Bear Creek.

Knapp Cistern

This project was the installation of two 265 gallon rainwater harvesting tanks at a Residential property in the Bear Creek watershed near Redmond, Washington. The property is rural in nature and directly abuts Bear Creek, one of the waterways with vital Chinook habitat we're looking to protect. The installation of cisterns diverts thousands of gallons of rainwater from the existing stormwater infrastructure, which would eventually empty into Bear Creek. Instead, this water will be used on a residential garden patch, conserving resources, and slowly returning the water to the landscape in a manner more in line with what would have been the natural flow patterns of the site.

Wheeler Cistern

This project was the installation of two 420 gallon cistern tanks at a rural residence near Redmond, Washington. This homeowner was already addressing issues related to the home's runoff and installing two cisterns during the restructuring of their stormwater conveyance system was a practical consideration. The home is situated alongside Evans Creek, which feeds directly into Lake Sammamish. All of the water captured by the cisterns will remain onsite, watering the landscape and contributing to local ecological health. Without the interception provided by the cisterns thousands of extra gallons a year would flow toward Evans Creek as stormwater runoff.

Brekke Davis Cistern

This project is a cistern installation near Issaquah, Washington. The cisterns will be set up to collect 395 ft² of contributing area from the roof of a shed. Two 480 gallon cylindrical cistern tanks hold 960 gallons of rainwater at a time, providing the homeowner with thousands of gallons of water to reuse for gardening and landscaping purposes around their property, and moderating the release of water on the property over time.

Newman Rain Garden & Cistern

This project is a rain garden and cistern installation on a rural property near Covington, Washington. The rain garden is drawing runoff from a 1500 ft² roof area to an approximately 320 ft² rain garden with 150 ft² of ponding area. It is intercepting a large portion of the home's preexisting runoff in the small area between the home and Little Soos Creek, one of our targeted waterbodies because of it's vital Chinook salmon habitat. The 530 gallon cistern tank is connected to an outlying barn and the thousands of gallons collected each year will be used on a residential garden.

McRaney Rain Garden

This rain garden project collects roof runoff from a residential home in Covington, Washington. The collected roof area that contributes to the rain garden is approximately 650 ft². The rain garden itself has a footprint of about 100' ft² and a pond area of 45 ft², respectively. The project collects water from three downspouts which would otherwise deliver runoff directly to the exiting stormwater system, feeding directly to Little Soos Creek, one of our targeted waterways.

Ahmady Rain Garden & Cistern

There are two projects at this residence in Covington, Washington; a rain garden and a cistern. The rain garden collects about 500 ft² of roof runoff from one side of the home while the cistern collects 250 ft² from another side. The rain garden takes up a 180 ft² footprint, replacing existing lawn, and contains approximately 100 ft² of ponding area. The cistern tank has 265 gallons of storage capacity which will allow for rainwater reuse for gardening and landscaping.

Smith Cistern

This project includes two 420 gallon cisterns collecting roof runoff from 916 ft² of garage roof. The outlying garage is located next to the residence's large garden plot and the rain water will be used onsite to water vegetables. The property is immediately uphill from the green river and reusing this water onsite has the potential to moderate the flow of water through the local hydrological system.