How Does Rainwater Runoff Impact Our Community?

Published on March 24, 2022

Our landscape today looks very different from the lush, natural landscape of 100 years ago. When rainwater can’t soak into the soil, it runs over hard surfaces, washing pollutants from our roofs, roads, and parking lots down our storm drains and into the stormwater system.

Did you know all rainwater runoff in Kirkland eventually ends up in Lake Washington? How about that 38% of Kirkland’s landscape is made up of hard surfaces like roadways, rooftops, and driveways? The health of a watershed can be negatively impacted when these hard surfaces make up more than 25% of the area, and the City of Kirkland is working hard to help protect the health of our waterways.

Check out our informative story map and explore:

• The path of rainwater runoff through Kirkland's stormwater drainage system and into our local creeks and lakes,
• the impacts of rainwater runoff including water pollution and flooding impacts,
• and what the City of Kirkland is doing to prevent rainwater-related problems.