Back to Nature: A Stormwater Basin’s Story

The City of Fargo is doing something few in the country have ever tried: it’s designing a community commons by reintroducing natural features to a simple, engineered and barren stormwater basin.

The stormwater basin at Rabanus Park previously featured a mowed depression and a concrete channel.

Built in the 1980s, the stormwater basin located at Rabanus Park was designed with a single purpose of flood control. It is one of numerous basins across the city of Fargo that collect stormwater or snow melt from streets and parking lots and release the water into the Red River over several hours. It’s part of a complex citywide system with over 350 miles of pipes that include other dry detention basins, drains, coulees, lift stations, and wet retention ponds.

That’s a big, unsung system that most of us don’t even realize exists.

The orange and darker blue shapes indicate public and private detention basins that provide stormwater protection to properties within the City of Fargo.

But just because a stormwater basin is needed for flood control doesn’t mean it can’t serve another purpose. In this case, the basin will also be an inviting greenspace that reflects Fargo’s cultural vibrancy.

Construction this winter will further transform the basin by enhancing and restoring natural plants, which will encourage wildlife to move into the new habitat. The introduction of “natural” water features will further add to the value and aesthetic of the space.