Yard Drainage in Astoria, Oregon: Fixing a Soggy Lawn

Why Astoria Yards Stay Wet

When your lawn is squishy most of the year and turns to standing water through the rainy season, drainage is the problem. Astoria sits at the mouth of the Columbia River on the Oregon coast in Clatsop County, where some of the heaviest rainfall in the state meets a very high water table. On a low coastal lot, groundwater sits close to the surface year-round; on the hillsides above the river, runoff pours downhill. Either way, the ground stays saturated.

The result is a soggy lawn that many Astoria homeowners know all too well — persistent puddles, spongy turf, moss instead of grass, and a yard that rarely fully dries out. Unlike inland towns where the soil dries by midsummer, the coast's combination of constant rain and a high water table can keep a poorly drained yard wet far longer.

A wet yard is more than a nuisance. It drowns turf roots, kills landscaping, breeds mosquitoes, and channels water toward your home's foundation. The good news is that these problems have proven fixes — the key is matching the right system to the coast's high water table and how water moves across your lot.

What Causes a Soggy Lawn in Clatsop County

A lasting solution starts with the cause. Around Astoria, soggy lawns usually trace to one or more of these.

A very high water table. This is the defining coastal challenge. When groundwater sits close to the surface, there is little room for rainfall to soak in, so the lawn stays saturated.

Extreme rainfall. The Oregon coast receives far more rain than the valley, and it falls over a long season. Even good soil struggles to keep up.

Runoff from higher ground. On Astoria's hillside lots, water flows downhill from above and collects in the lower yard.

Downspouts at the foundation. Roof water dumped beside the house adds to already saturated ground and spreads across the lawn.

Compacted or low areas. Low spots fill and stay full because the water table beneath them is already high.

Drainage Systems That Fix Soggy Astoria Yards

No single product solves every wet yard, and the coast's high water table shapes the right approach.

French Drains

A French drain — a gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe — collects subsurface water and carries it to a safe outlet. In Astoria, a properly designed French drain can lower a high water table in the wet zone, but the depth and outlet have to be right for the coast's conditions.

Surface Drains and Catch Basins

For defined puddles — a low spot, a patio edge, the base of a slope — a catch basin tied to a buried pipe captures the water and routes it away. On hillside lots, this pairs with the natural grade.

Downspout Extensions and Drain Lines

Tying downspouts into a buried drain line moves roof water away from the house before it adds to already saturated ground. It is often a cost-effective first improvement.

Regrading, Swales, and Sumps

Reshaping the ground with a swale guides surface water along a planned path, and regrading to slope away from the home helps. Where the water table is too high for a gravity outlet, a sump and pump may be needed to lift collected water away — a common coastal solution.

What to Expect From a Drainage Assessment

Because every soggy yard is different — and the coast's high water table complicates things — the right solution starts with a site visit, not a guess. We look at where water enters, where it pools, how high the water table sits, how the land slopes, where your downspouts discharge, and what the soil does when we dig a test hole. In Astoria, evaluating the water table and finding a viable outlet — sometimes a pumped one — is often the key to a lasting fix.

That assessment separates a drainage system that lasts decades from one that fails its first wet season. For the full range of systems and pricing factors, see our property drainage solutions for Oregon overview and the yard drainage cost guide.

Why Local Experience Matters

Draining a coastal yard in Astoria is not like draining inland soil. A very high water table, extreme rainfall, sandy and silty coastal soils, and hillside runoff mean a system built for valley conditions will struggle here. Drain depth, outlet planning, filter fabric, and sometimes a pump all have to account for ground that is saturated much of the year.

Our excavation services cover the trenching, grading, and pipe work a durable drainage system needs. We build for Clatsop County's coastal conditions, not a generic inland spec.