The Tabor to the River Program area covers about 2.3 square miles from Mt. Tabor to the Willamette River between SE Hawthorne and SE Powell boulevards, covering the Richmond, Hosford-Abernathy, Brooklyn and Mt. Tabor neighborhoods. The combined sewer system in the program area mixes sanitary sewage with stormwater runoff from streets in the same pipes. Because of increases in pavement and other impervious surfaces and decreases in tree canopy, the volume of stormwater going into the pipes is much greater than the system was designed to manage 100 years ago. Very heavy rains can cause sewers to back up into basements, flood streets, and overflow to the Willamette River. 

Tabor to the River combines innovative stormwater management techniques with sewer repairs and improvements to solve a variety of urban challenges. The work will stop basement flooding, manage stormwater more naturally, and begin to restore the health of our watersheds.This is more than a City of Portland program. It's a partnership between the city and the community to create sustainable solutions to our urban watershed problems. The result will be a sound, dependable sewer and stormwater infrastructure which will give us healthier urban watersheds, more livable neighborhoods, and cleaner rivers and streams.

Tabor to the River Program Goals

The Tabor to the River Program is: 

• Planting 3,500 trees

• Adding 500 green streets

• Building 100 private stormwater projects

• Repairing or replacing 81,000 feet of sewer pipe

• Removing invasive plants from parks and natural areas

• Improving wildlife habitat, cleaning the air and making neighborhoods healthier
  

Program Costs

Resolving the sewer system problems in the Tabor to the River Program area with only pipe solutions would have cost an estimated $144 million. Adding green infrastructure projects reduces the estimated cost to $81 million and multiplies the benefits.