SW Texas Green Street Stormwater Improvements

Localized flooding caused by inadequate stormwater drainage from unimproved streets around SW Texas Street led many property owners to improvise stormwater systems. The city proposed that property owners form a local improvement district (LID) to fund street and stormwater improvements. There was little public support for an LID until the city agreed to fund additional Green Street facilities for stormwater management. Property owners formed an LID in April 2005.

The project area is at the headwaters of Stephens Creek. Stephens Creek is one of the few streams in southwest Portland that still flows freely to the Willamette River, but is degraded by stormwater runoff from development. This project adds urban amenities for residents and protects water quality in Stephens Creek.

A Successful Partnership

The Bureau of Environmental Services constructed stormwater facilities to collect and filter stormwater runoff and allow it to soak into the ground. The project manages stormwater runoff from a 17-acre basin bounded by SW California Street, SW Nevada Court, SW Capitol Highway, and SW 26th Avenue.

The project includes:

• Street improvements on SW 26th, 28th and 29th avenues between Nevada and California and Texas streets
• 20-foot-wide streets, with one sidewalk and parking on one side
• Driveway connections to existing homes
• Swales and wetland detention to manage stormwater runoff
• Acquisition and restoration of a 0.62-acre wetland

The partners in this project were the Bureau of Environmental Services, the Portland Office of Transportation, the Portland Water Bureau and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Project Benefits

This flexible, innovative project meets the needs of the neighborhood, helps meet regulatory requirements, and improves quality of life. The Green Street improvements direct stormwater runoff away from homes and backyards, alleviate basement flooding, reduce street erosion, and protect new road infrastructure. The project will also improve system reliability by managing stormwater that contributed to the failure of the Burlingame trunk sewer along Stephens Creek, downstream from the project area.

Costs and Funding

The project was funded by about $1.3 million dollars from the Environmental Services capital improvement program, a $77,000 Environmental Protection Agency Innovative Wet Weather Grant, and about $942,000 for street improvements from the local improvement district.

Environmental Services completed wetland construct in July 2006. The project was finished in summer 2007.