Upper Silver Beach Creek Stream Stabilization Project

Project Overview

This project consists of new stormwater treatment facilities in the Brownsville neighborhood of the Silver Beach Creek sub-basin near Lake Whatcom. This area experiences increased stormwater runoff and greater peak flows due to its developed landscape. The new facilities substantially improve water quality and reduce flooding along this especially problematic reach of Silver Beach Creek between Brownsville Drive and East 16th Place. This project includes vegetated swales, a raised and widened stream channel, stabilized slopes, and stormwater treatment vaults at key inflows. These improvements will promote infiltration, filter phosphorus-containing sediment, reduce erosion, and alleviate flooding.

The Brownsville Drive to E. 16th Place Project is the second of three Whatcom County Public Works stormwater improvement projects in the Silver Beach Creek sub-basin. Part of the funding for this project came from local real estate excise tax revenues and a federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant.

Whatcom County Public Works was awarded the 2012 Environmental Project of the Year by the American Public Works Association Washington State Chapter for water quality improvements resulting from the Brownsville Drive to E. 16th Place Project in the Silver Beach Creek sub-basin.