Surface Water

Culverts, Catch Basins, Pipes and Easements

Island County owns and maintains more than 4,000 culverts and nearly 2,000 catch basins, nearly all associated with county roads. Additionally, the county manages drainage easements across hundreds of properties. Island County road crews keep outfalls flowing, culverts draining, catch basins catching, and surface water managed. 

Visit map to view locations and other information on culverts, catch basins and easements.  

Report a problem with drainage or surface water.

Check out new projects and repairs to keep stormwater systems working in Island County.

Download the current Stormwater Design Manual.

Sea Level Rise

Links to maps and data related to sea level rise.

Clean Water Utility

On Dec. 20, 2010 the Board of Island County Commissioners adopted the Clean Water Utility to address concerns related to surface and groundwater quantity and quality in Island County.  The Utility funds stormwater drainage projects, surface water quality monitoring, on-site sewage system monitoring and compliance, and other surface and ground water programs.

The Clean Water Utility encompasses all of Island County, except:

  • Properties within the corporate limits of Oak Harbor, Langley, and Coupeville
  • Properties within the Marshall Drainage Basin Utility
  • Properties owned by the Federal Government, the State and the County

Clean Water Utility Documents

  1. CWU - 2010 Program Element Descriptions (pdf)
  2. CWU - 2010 Resolution C-97-10 Establishing Clean Water Utility Chapter 15_03 Island County Code (pdf)
  3. CWU - 2011 Resolution C-127-11 System of Charges (pdf)
  4. CWU - 2012 Resolution C-148-12 Establish Minimum Parcel Exemption (pdf)
  1. CWU - 2022 CWU Update Work Session Memo (pdf)
  2. CWU - 2023 Resolution C-73-23 Clean Water Utility Code Change (pdf)
  3. CWU Brochure revised (pdf)
  4. CWU - 2013 Res C-112-13 for Ag lands

Climate

Parts of Island County lie within the rain shadow cast by the Olympic Mountains. Ebey's Landing, along the west side of Whidbey Island, on average receives only 21.9" of rainfall annually, while Clinton at the south end of Whidbey gets a soaking 35.7" (Oregon State University Prism Climate Group).   

At the same time, some data suggests that Island County gets the least average daily solar radiation due to cloud cover than just about every other county in the coterminous US (North America Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) Daily Sunlight (KJ/m²) (1979-2011) ). 

Island County Rainfall