From 2023-2024, The Watershed Center continued its successful partnership with the Village of Northport to reduce stormwater inputs to Grand Traverse Bay from runoff originating in the village. Specifically, we utilized green infrastructure (also referred to as nature-based solutions) to address the second largest source of stormwater in the village coming from the Main Street stormdrain.

The largest installation was a series of underground infiltration chambers installed in the Northport Public School parking lot where the rooftop and main parking area contribute to the start of the Main Street stormdrain. These chambers provide 8,760 cubic feet of storage and are estimated to infiltrate 960,000 gallons of stormwater each year.

Additionally, three rain gardens were installed and one existing rain garden was refurbished. Two of the new rain gardens were installed at the Northport Marina and the other new rain garden was installed at the corner of Waukazoo and Main streets as you enter the village. The existing rain garden at the corner of Nagonaba and High streets was refurbished so it could handle the amount of stormwater it receives. In total, 991 square feet of rain gardens were installed that are estimated to infiltrate 69,000 gallons of stormwater each year.

This project followed a 2018 partnership with the Village of Northport where a 544-square-foot underground infiltration system was installed in front of the village offices and 6 street tree boxes were installed along the eastern part of Naganoba Street. That project infiltrates an estimated 1,875,500 gallons of stormwater each year.