Working directly for the Spokane County Stormwater Utility, AHBL led the design team that restored the Country Homes Boulevard channel to a more natural state. This water-quality project involved the removal of an existing asphalt channel, replacing it with a subsurface pipe to carry flood flows, and a bioretention swale running the entire length of the drainage channel. The end result allows for local infiltration of stormwater, flood mitigation, removal of pollutant generating surface, and beautification of nearly 1.5 mile of road.

The channel was originally designed to rapidly carry stormwater runoff from the 2.3 square mile Five Mile Watershed; designed at a time when less was known about the need for treatment of stormwater that finds its way to our rivers, streams and/or the aquifer. The new facility contains a variety of plant material, including native grasses and trees with organic rich topsoil, that provide for natural treatment of stormwater runoff and reduce pollutants before water reaches these natural resources.