Stormwater News

Taylor Dock was one of the first places I explored. It was early spring, and the boardwalk was bustling with people, there were sailboats floating on the glittering shore, and a few brave (and apprehensive) kids plunging into the bay. This gathering place was my first impression of the city and its people, and I felt the sense of community that this dock held. As residents of Bellingham Bay, we all share the golden sunsets, busy streets, and drainage systems. The city of Bellingham’s impact on the Bay is a collective

responsibility we all share, and the status of the Bay tells a larger story of the city’s future
development and the marine ecosystem’s health.

The City of Bellingham’s sewer system is over 100 years old and consists of 300 miles of
pipelines that extend beyond city limits. The City is responsible for those 300 miles of main lines
and the 19,000 connected side lines are the responsibility of private property owners. Gray water
from our homes is diverted to the Post Point Wastewater Treatment Plant in Fairhaven. But
stormwater drainage that flows through our streets is directly sent to Bellingham Bay at various
outposts. The City of Bellingham’s mitigation efforts for managing stormwater before it enters
the bay include natural and artificial retention systems. Greenspaces can help naturally filter
water before it enters the bay, but impervious surfaces like concrete and roofs quickly send water
into our street drains before various pollutants can be filtered. The City of Bellingham is not
required to monitor its stormwater, and stormwater drainage is currently the biggest source of
pollution in Bellingham Bay.

Monitoring stormwater drainage pollution is very costly, and with the treatment plant’s
capacity limits, the influx of stormwater can cause overflow of raw sewage directly into the Bay. The City’s infrastructure still has connections between stormwater and sewer lines, and after
rainfall events are typically when high levels of E. coli are reported. However, at the Bennett
Creek outfall along Taylor Dock, the overall trend of E. coli levels is not always directly
correlated to rainfall, and occurs even in dry periods. An interactive map can be found here to
view recent water quality levels along the Bay.

Kirsten McDade, the Northsound Water Keeper is a part of the Waterkeeper Alliance that
upholds the United States Clean Water Act. She monitors the water quality of the Salish Sea and
conducts community outreach programs like beach cleanups and a volunteer program for
community scientists. McDade said the atypical E. coli trend levels could be linked to decaying
infrastructure that leads to sewage leaks on private property sidelines. Considering most pipeline
infrastructure is underground, it is very difficult to pinpoint the source of pollution that leads into
our shared Bellingham Bay. Testing is limited to the outfalls due to the enclosed infrastructure
and the restricted access of manhole covers, which are typically only accessible to city
employees rather than community volunteers.

Because pollution levels at the outputs are always changing and testing is conducted at
limited sites, it is difficult to establish an overall status of water quality in the Bay. RE Source’s
conducted a three year long, monthly data collection from 2021-2023 of Bennett Creek’s mean
levels of E. coli in stormwater output. Its mean levels were 500 cfu/100 mL, this was 5 times
higher than Padden Creek, the second highest contaminated site for E. coli bacteria. For
reference, a maximum safe output is considered to be 100 cfu/100 mL. Chronic levels of bacteria
contamination in the bay pose safety issues for recreational activities and for marine life.

Swimming in the bay after recent rainfall is not recommended, and if you are immuno-
compromised or have an open wound, you could be more vulnerable to an E. coli infection.
Stormwater pollution affects marine life at all levels of the food chain in the Salish Sea-
from small shellfish, salmon, and orcas-who have been in the news lately due to population
concerns. Shellfish and small invertebrates are filter feeders, they absorb pollutants in the water,
this buildup accumulates in the shellfish and impacts populations. Accumulation of pollutants in
shellfish also impacts industries as this can lead to shellfish being unsafe for human
consumption. Going up the food chain, fish that consume contaminated filter feeders also
accumulate these toxins in their tissues and reduce reproductive success. Salmon populations
have been struggling to maintain stable populations, with a widespread impact on Indigenous
communities, fishing industries, and marine ecosystem stability. In 2020, the University of
Washington discovered that a chemical from rubber tires was contributing to salmon deaths; this
chemical was entering water systems through stormwater drainage. As for the Southern Resident
orcas that travel through the Puget Sound, their populations are at an all time low due to sound
pollution, prey availability, and the further accumulation of pollutants that impact reproductive
success.

With the cumulative impacts of stormwater pollution in the Bay, how can we mitigate the
impacts of today and reduce pollution moving forward? There are a few ways you can mitigate
your own contributions, but with so much impervious infrastructure in place, technical solutions
and future city planning with green infrastructure are what the city is capable of implementing at
this time. 

McDade noted, “The city has a new urban forestry plan which is very optimistic, they’re going for the
upper limit of about 45% canopy cover. Planting trees across the landscape is great. But one of
the main issues with Bellingham and all cities is that the worst stormwater pollution is in areas
that have the most impervious surfaces. The newer developments that we have in Bellingham
have much better stormwater systems. Looking further down the road, there are some council
members that are interested in writing in city code that building [developments] need to do a
certain amount of restoration, if they’re going to tear it down and build a new one, we set those
[boundaries] back. We can’t just tear down the buildings and rebuild, but as we need to replace
them, we need to make renovations. We need more filters along those creeks. All four of our big
urban creeks, they need more space.”

When we visit Taylor Dock and walk along the wooden planks, looking down at the
water beneath us or the horizon beyond, we may not realize how connected to the land we really
are. Or the people we pass by on the docks, many faces of many ages, all enjoying a common
space. To laugh, to recreate, or to be still amongst the churning waters and breaking winds. Even
if you don’t frequent the dock, we all are simultaneously influencing our environment and in
return influencing it back. Being informed about what is happening in your community and
understanding the larger implications on global systems is critical. I was told once that if you
want to save the world, you should start in your own backyard. This couldn’t be more true for the
City of Bellingham and its residents.

AurorianPate is a senior at Western Washington University studying Environmental
Science and Environmental Policy.

References: 

City of Bellingham. (n.d.). Bellingham Bay stormwater management. Retrieved
from https://cob.org/services/environment/stormwater/bellingham-bay-stormwater

City of Bellingham. (n.d.). Urban streams monitoring. Retrieved from
https://cob.org/services/environment/water-quality/urban-streams-monitoring

City of Bellingham. (n.d.). Reduce stormwater pollution. Retrieved from
https://cob.org/services/environment/stormwater/reduce-pollution

Friends of the Salish Sea. (n.d.). The stormwater monitoring project. Retrieved
from https://friendsofsalishsea.org/the-stormwater-monitoring-project/

Friends of the Salish Sea. (n.d.). Friends of the Salish Sea. Retrieved from
https://friendsofsalishsea.org/

Friends of the Salish Sea. (n.d.). Stormwater monitoring project update. Retrieved
from https://friendsofsalishsea.org/elementor-1860/

OPB. (2022). Pacific Northwest federal salmon hatcheries see declining returns.
Retrieved from https://www.opb.org/article/2022/05/24/pacific-northwest-federal-
salmon-hatcheries-declining-returns/

RE Sources. (2024). Three years of Bellingham stormwater monitoring reveals
pollution hotspots, including Taylor Dock. Retrieved from https://www.re-
sources.org/2024/06/three-years-of-bellingham-stormwater-monitoring-reveals-pollution-
hotspots-including-taylor-dock/

RE Sources. (n.d.). North Sound Waterkeeper. Retrieved from https://www.re-
sources.org/initiative/waterkeeper/

RE Sources. (2023). How healthy is Bellingham stormwater? Retrieved from
https://www.re-sources.org/2023/05/how-healthy-is-bellingham-stormwater/

Water Reporter. (n.d.). Interactive map of water quality in Bellingham Bay.
Retrieved from https://maps.waterreporter.org/YWYyWhplWrDl/