If you live in Lowell, walk the Lowell Riverfront Trail, or drive S 1st Avenue every day, here is what the new Lenora Stormwater Treatment Facility actually means for your neighborhood. Construction starts in April 2026 on a 0.27-acre city-owned lot at the corner of Lenora Street and S 1st Avenue, right next to Lowell Riverfront Park. The whole thing — $8.73 million — is paid for by a Washington State Department of Ecology grant, which is why it is not on your Everett utility bill.
What’s Actually Going In Down the Street
The corner where the new facility is being built is small — just under a third of an acre. Most Lowell residents have driven past it hundreds of times without noticing it as anything special. After construction, what you will see at ground level is a small landscaped surface with bioretention cells, a low-profile access path, and a city interpretive sign explaining what the facility does.
The technology underneath is a five-cell Filterra Bioscape system. Two of the five cells will be fully operational at opening; the city designed the site so the remaining three cells can be brought online as Lowell’s drainage subbasins develop further. The bottom line for anyone walking by: this is not a treatment plant in the visual sense. It is a small, landscaped intersection upgrade with serious water-quality machinery underneath.
Why It Matters Specifically to Lowell
Lowell sits on a low riverfront bench between the Snohomish River and the BNSF tracks. Three small drainage subbasins — LW-9, LW-10, and LW-11, totaling 146.10 acres — concentrate fast during rain events and run toward the Marshland Canal, which empties into the river. That geography is exactly what creates the water-quality problem the Lenora facility is designed to fix.
The runoff coming off Lowell streets, parking lots, and roofs carries the standard menu of urban stormwater pollutants:
- Suspended solids that cloud the river and smother salmon spawning gravel.
- Petroleum hydrocarbons from oil and fuel.
- Dissolved copper from vehicle brake pads — acutely toxic to juvenile salmon at very low concentrations.
- Dissolved zinc from tire wear, galvanized metal, and roofing.
- Total phosphorus, which drives summer algae blooms downstream.
The salmon question is not abstract. The Snohomish River system is salmon-bearing, and the stretch downstream of Lowell — toward the river mouth, Possession Sound, and Jetty Island — is exactly the kind of habitat that benefits most from removing dissolved copper and zinc upstream of where juvenile salmon swim through.
Why It’s Not on Your Bill
This is the part most Lowell residents will care about most directly. The Lenora facility is funded by Washington State Department of Ecology Water Quality Combined Financial Assistance Agreement WQC-2025-EverPW-00177 in the amount of $8,733,920 — effectively the full project cost.
Everett residents are already absorbing other utility-related conversations: the proposed $10.74-per-month utility tax hike going through City Council as part of the 2027 budget decision. The Lenora project is structurally separate. The state Ecology grant pays for it. The proposed utility tax is a different revenue mechanism for general fund purposes. Don’t conflate the two.
What to Expect on the Lowell Riverfront Trail
If your routine includes walking the Lowell Riverfront Trail, this is the practical part. The construction site is right at the corner of S 1st Avenue and Lenora Street, immediately adjacent to Lowell Riverfront Park. Expect:
- Periodic construction activity through spring and summer 2026 — equipment, staging, deliveries.
- Possible short trail detours along the affected segment near the corner; Public Works will post signage if a closure is necessary.
- The trail itself stays intact. The facility footprint is at the edge of the park, not inside it. Day-of-day walkers, runners, and dog-walkers should be able to maintain their routine with minor reroutes.
Why an $8.7M Stormwater Project Outranks the Stadium for Lowell Specifically
For most of Everett, the spring 2026 construction headlines have been about the $10.6M downtown stadium interfund loan vote and the 300 new waterfront apartments at the Millwright District. Both matter to the city as a whole. Neither is what changes the river running past your house if you live in Lowell.
The Lenora Stormwater Treatment Facility is the project that does. Removing dissolved copper and zinc from 146 acres of runoff before it reaches the Marshland Canal is the kind of upstream water-quality work that determines whether the river running through Lowell stays a credible salmon habitat over the next decade. That is a small project doing big work.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does construction start?
April 2026.
How long will construction last?
The city has not published a final completion date publicly. Most facilities of this scope and footprint take several months to a year to complete; Public Works will post on-site signage with the active schedule once construction is underway.
Will I be able to use the Lowell Riverfront Trail this spring and summer?
Yes — with minor reroutes possible. Expect periodic construction activity at the corner and possible short detours. The trail itself stays open; the facility footprint is at the edge of the park.
Will the project raise my utility bill?
No. The Washington State Department of Ecology grant pays for the project. The proposed Everett utility tax hike is a separate matter at City Council and is unrelated to the Lenora project.
Will I be able to see the facility from the trail?
Yes. The Filterra system has surface elements — bioretention cells and access path — visible at ground level, and the city’s Public Works department typically installs an interpretive sign explaining what the facility does.
Why this corner specifically?
The site is city-owned, sized correctly for the Filterra Bioscape system, located at the convergence of three drainage subbasins (LW-9, LW-10, LW-11) and adjacent to a publicly accessible park, which makes operations and public education easier.
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