Keep Toxic Runoff out of Puget Sound

Help prevent rain from becoming polluted runoff that flows into Puget Sound.

Puget Sound is located in Washington and consists of channels, inlets, estuaries, embayments and islands. The Puget Sound region extends from Stanwood to Olympia. Your donation helps to create rain gardens across Puget Sound, helping to eliminate the biggest polluter of the Sound: urban rain water runoff.

Urban runoff is caused by rain water running off of hard, impervious surfaces such as sidewalks and streets, collecting toxins as it moves. It then runs unfiltered into streams and lakes, adding dangerous toxins to the water. This type of runoff is the single largest source of pollution in Puget Sound. Runoff carries toxins that prevent salmon from being able to spawn, causes massive amounts of erosion in urban creeks, and silts up shellfish beds and critical habitat for marine wildlife such as the beautiful Orca, which rely on clean water and a healthy salmon population to thrive.

The good news is this type of runoff is entirely preventable. Rain gardens are planted depressions built in urban areas designed specifically to collect clean rainwater and prevent it from becoming harmful runoff. These gardens and other forms of "green infrastructure" undo the cause of runoff pollution right at the source. Plus, by introducing the natural processes of healthy soils and thriving plants back into urban environments, rain gardens also capture carbon, beautify communities, and provide habitat to pollinators and other important wildlife.

Stewardship Partners is working with Washington State University to build 12,000 rain gardens across Puget Sound. By working with the Washington Stormwater Center, Stewardship Partners has access to the best science available, and can make the best recommendations for rain garden installations, which are clustered strategically to ensure the greatest cumulative benefit. The project works with community members and local landowners to preserve and restore the environment and protect the Puget Sound.

You can help. Just $10.00 prevents 60 gallons a year of polluted runoff from entering Puget Sound.

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Stewardship Partners is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps private landowners restore and preserve the natural landscapes of Washington state. They collaborate with diverse interest groups to build bridges and find solutions that achieve mutual goals of environmental protection, economic health and community well-being. Their projects restore fish and wildlife habitat, improve water quality, protect open space and "green up" the built environment–while maintaining working landscapes of farms, forestland and livable communities throughout the state.