Stories about Getting to Clean Water: Poulsbo Cleans up a Lot on Liberty Bay

Stories about Getting to Clean Water: Poulsbo Cleans up a Lot on Liberty Bay

By Diane Dent, Water Quality Stories Lead, Water Quality Program

Parking lot at Anderson Parkway near Liberty Bay after improvements.

Liberty Bay is an important waterway that supports commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting. For the city of Poulsbo, which sits at the top of Liberty Bay, it’s no wonder the people put the Anderson Parkway parking lot right next to the bay so folks can drive right up.

The Problem

The 2.1 acre Anderson Parkway is the single largest hard, non-porous surface in downtown Poulsbo. Rainwater lands on the Parkway, picks up pollution, and discharges untreated stormwater directly to Liberty Bay. The runoff from cars results in relatively high amounts of toxic contaminant loading to Liberty Bay.

Large portions of Poulsbo were developed over 100 years ago and have no stormwater treatment facilities. The city recognized that significant improvements could be achieved by retrofitting these developed areas, especially large paved areas near the water.

To find out how the city of Poulsbo dealt with the stormwater discharging into Liberty Bay, read this full story online, which was written by written by Joan Nolan, Ecology Northwest Regional Office.

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