Stormwater from the Porrtland Community College (PCC) Sylvania campus parking lot, buildings and driveways flows to Ball Creek, then to Fanno Creek and finally to the Tualatin River. The Sylvania campus has over 53 acres of impervious surface, which creates an average of 44 million gallons of stormwater runoff annually. Stormwater runoff that isn’t properly managed can wash pollution into rivers and streams, destroy habitat, and cause flooding and erosion.

In November 2009, the city and PCC retrofitted a landscaped area to create this rain garden to treat runoff from the street and parking lot. Water flows in through curb cuts on both sides. Vegetation filters and slows the flow, and water soaks into the soil.