Fish Hatchery and Environmental Education Center

Rain barrels are a great way to collect water to use later on. There are many benefits to harvesting water with rain barrels. In addition to helping you conserve water, rain barrels can help you to:

• Cut your household use of water during the hot summer months

• Water your plants with chlorine-free rainwater that they prefer

• Clean your car, bike, tools, etc. without ever using the faucet

• Provide water to livestock

• Save money on water bills

• Protect local streams and Puget Sound

Learn more about rain barrels and even buy one by visiting the Snohomish Conservation District's website. 

Rain gardens are not only beautiful but they also serve important functions. 

Rain gardens: 

• Enhance the landscaping and appearance of homes and yards

• Provide habitat for beneficial insects and birds

• Filter oil and grease from driveways, pesticides, and fertilizers from lawns, and other pollutants before they reach groundwater or the storm drain and eventually streams, wetlands, lakes and marine waters

• Filter runoff from agricultural land to help prevent pollutants like manure from washing into our waterways

• Reduce flooding on neighboring property, overflows in sewers, and erosion in streams by absorbing runoff from hard surfaces

• Increase the amount of water that soaks into the ground to recharge local groundwater

Growing your own food and eating local can really help you cut down your carbon emissions. Gardening has also been shown to reduce stress and anxiety and provide a great source of exercise for people of all ages. Check out the Snohomish Conservation District's Lawns to Lettuce Page.  Their experts can help you with site selection and provide the resources you need for a successful garden! 

We have planted hundreds of native plants on site. Native plants offer food and shelter for beneficial insects, birds, and other animals. Some other benefits of native plants are that they are well adapted to our climate of wet winters and dry summers, they require less water than non-native plants, they resist native pests and diseases better, they improve water quality by needing less fertilizer and no pesticides, and they require little maintenance. 

Some of the native plants located on site include: 

• Indian Plum 
• Red Flowering Currant 
• Thimbleberry 
• Salmonberry 
• Red Osier Dogwood 
• Salal 
• Oregon Grape 
• Snowberry
• Nootka Rose 
• Coastal Strawberry 
• Kinnikinic 
• And more! 

To irrigate our garden beds and native plants we set up an efficient micro-spray watering system. This allows us to water each plant individually for a set amount of time. This allows us to put the water directly where we want it at the soil surface. This reduces the amount of water that is lost to evaporation and runoff. 

Learn how you can water smart by clicking here.(PDF, 1MB)

We created a "pollinator strip" to attract and support our important pollinator species. Did you know that 1 out of every 3 bites you take was made possible by a pollinator? These species are increasingly important as bee populations decline due to habitat loss and pesticide use. Creating good pollinator habitat not only benefits our bees and butterflies but it also helps your garden! 

Learn more about pollinators and what you can do to help by visiting the Xerces Society website.