Local News

<< Previous   of   Next >> Mark Mulligan / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Rachel McCrea, a storm water specialist for the state Department of Ecology, shows her daughter Olivia, 6, how water seeps through porous concrete at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds on Friday. Mark Mulligan/The Herald  (click to enlarge) School teacher Janice McLaren examines artwork created with porous concrete at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds on Friday.   ADVERTISEMENT   The Evergreen State Fair When: Aug. 21 through Sept. 1 Where: The Evergreen State Fairgrounds, 14405 179th Ave. SE, Monroe How much: $9 for adults tickets plus the cost of shows. More information: www.evergreenfair.org   Related Stories • Evergreen State Fair Results 9/3/08 • Fair's been quite a ride 9/1/08 • The Fair: Best bets 9/1/08 • The Fair: Results 9/1/08 • A front-row seat at the fair 8/31/08 • Evergreen State Fair results 8/31/08 • Best Bets for Saturday at the Evergreen State Fair 8/30/08 • Evergreen State Fair Results 8/29/08 • What goes into a photo? Light, camera, action 8/29/08 • The Fair best bets for Aug. 28 8/28/08 • The Fair snapshot: A cattle fan's two worlds 8/28/08 • Fair results 8/28/08 • The Fair: Best bets 8/27/08 • The Fair: Results 8/27/08 • The Fair: Snapshot 8/27/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Monday, August 18, 2008 A greener look for the Evergreen State Fairgrounds Rain gardens and a pathway of porous concrete will help keep storm water cleaner at the fairgrounds in Monroe. By Katya Yefimova, Herald Writer MONROE -- Rain gardens, planter boxes and a new walkway are all part of a $323,400 project finished just in time for the Evergreen State Fair's 100th birthday. The project is intended to filter pollution from storm water before it hits the area's waterways. The project was paid for by a state Department of Ecology grant the county received last year. Storm water running off roofs, lawns, roads and other surfaces is often polluted with oil, toxic metals and bacteria. As a result, it can pose serious problems for water quality in streams and aquifers. The new features include swathes of porous pavement. Altogether, the changes will let rain soak into the ground, instead of washing straight into creeks, streams and rivers. The highlight of the project is a new walkway in front of the longhouse, made out of porous concrete. It features artwork telling an American Indian legend about a young hunter. Gregg Farris, of the Snohomish County Surface Water Management, said he is very excited about the way the project turned out. Thousands of people going through the fair each day will see examples of how to build similar features on their own property to help keep the environment clean, he said. "This is a perfect demonstration site because we get so many people. I think this is going to gain momentum. It makes a lot of sense," Farris said. At a dedication ceremony Friday, which featured a traditional American Indian blessing of the grounds, Farris led the group to one of the six rain gardens. In a rain garden, plants grow in several different layers of soil that allows the water to percolate into the ground. For those who don't have enough space to build a rain garden, special planter boxes may be just right. They are designed with a layer of sand at the bottom to hold about 90 percent of water that falls on them. Craig Young, who helped oversee the project, said it will really help change the way people see development. "We somehow got this idea that if we have a lot of houses really close together we can't have trees and soil. We can change that by being very intelligent in the way we build our infrastructure," he said. Young said new tools are becoming available that will reduce harmful effects on the environment. The county will be using more and more of these tools in the future. Even so, the county is cautious when it comes to using low-impact development to manage the flow of storm water. The concept is relatively new and one of the challenges is to make sure the ideas will actually work and not cause a flood, Young said. He pointed to one of the rain gardens, which is equipped with a backup system of pipes. The water has somewhere to go if something goes wrong. "There are always ways to make it work," Young said. Reporter Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452 or kyefimova@heraldnet.com.

1. Boeing warns of job cuts during 2009 2. 160 Snohomish County jobs are on the chopping block 3. Steve & Barry's store to shut down at Everett Mall 4. 'Twilight' brings out crowds after dark 5. Stillaguamish ex-leaders plead guilty to cigarette trafficking 6. Chicken pox outbreak keeps 300 Monroe students at home 7. The Wii teaches P.E. at Arlington high school 8. From a tragedy comes a promise 9. Wilson's play finally catching up to his running mouth 10. Marysville police seek robber 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Seattle Prep ends Shorecrest's title hopes • Deja vu: Seattle Christian thwarts King's title shot • Shoreline Christian's boys soccer title hopes dashed • Edmonds' Pink House staying put • King's wins first state volleyball title • RV in plain sight? City says 'That's illegal' • Timberwolves take Class 4A title • Mavs can't hang on against Capital • TV success shares life as artist, geek • Building energy independence from the ground up