Whatcom County has finished its project to prevent flooding and erosion and to clean stormwater on Birch Point under budget, according to Whatcom County Public Works.

The project at Charel Terrace, off of Semiahmoo Drive, is the first major construction project done by the new Birch Bay-area water resources district. The district is funded by a fee paid by landowners based on the amount of impervious surface on their properties.

Construction cost $197,000 for the project, 26 percent less than what the contractor, Len Honcoop Gravel of Lynden, bid for the project. The company's bid also was 28 percent below what the county estimated construction would cost.

The project involved building swales to slow down and clean stormwater, as well as other structures designed to move stormwater to the beach, where it enters the sea at a new outfall designed to prevent erosion.