The rat-a-tat-tat on the windows is music to my ears as we round out our third year of drought here in Georgia (although apparently the drought was just deemed "over" the other day, a premature determination, if you ask me, considering the long, hot, summer ahead). Rain, for me as a food gardener, means another week my crops get watered, my rain barrel gets filled and I don't have to turn on my outside water yet. Last year I made it to June without having to turn on the hose (we're allowed to water food gardens, by the way, so integrate some vegetables into your flower beds if you want to water). I double-dug my garden beds and added more organic matter to them with the hope of increasing their water-holding capacity, so let's see how long I can go this year.
In the meantime, I find myelf reading everything I can about stormwater management, because let's face it, the massive runoff on our abundance of impermeable surfaces can't be good. And sure enough, all sustainability Best Practices roads lead to Portland, Oregon yet again, where its Green Streets sustainable stormwater strategy "meets regulatory compliance and resource protection goals by using a natural systems approach to manage stormwater, reduce flows, improve water quality and enhance watershed health."
What does that means? Well, through the inclusion of vegetative swales, planters, rain gardens and pervious pavers (see photos here), Portland can capture more rainwater, filter it through natural means and return it in a purer form to the watershed. What's more, the addition of these features adds greenspace, connects communities, beautifies the city, and increases cyclist and pedestrian safety. Considering that we're lacking in all those things (well, except the beautification--Dunwoody is a very pretty city), strategies such as Green Streets are worth a look as we begin the development of our stormwater management strategy.
Wanna' increase the water conservation attributes of your property? When planting, plant natives. They thrive in our soil and weather conditions. Dunwoody Nature Center's "Eye-Poppin' Natives" native plant sale ends tomorrow, so click here and order online.
Here's an easy one--add a rain barrel. My rain barrel (which I made at a class at the Oakhurst Community Garden two Augusts ago), fills up after one nice rainfall and provides enough water for about half my garden (I have about 200 square feet of food gardening space). I open the top and dip a bucket in and water where needed. It's a breeze. (I water my mailbox garden solely with kitchen water.)
Think twice about all those pesticides and herbicides we as a society are putting into our watershed. (Check out Beyond Pesticides.) I'm hearing lots of buzz about dogs that are getting sick from lawn chemicals. In fact, the American Veterinary Medical Association has just added a feature to make it easy for veterinarians to report incidences of suspected pesticide posioning. Also, here is the Beyond Pesticides PDF titled What you show know to keep your pets safe.
As we move forward as a city and discuss stormwater credits, let's remember to reward conservation-minded, watershed-saving actions such as the addition of rain barrels, rain gardens, and pervious surfaces and the practice of chemical-free lawncare.
Another thing to consider--protect your neighborhood's pipes. Turns out all those fats, oils and grease that somehow get dumped down the drains stay in your neighborhood, harden and cause sewer backups and other problems. Not good! In fact, a recent problem in our neighborhood led to this shocking email from our homeowner's association president just yesterday:
The County will be performing an emergency repair procedure starting at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning. They estimate that it will take between 7-10 business days to complete their work. During this time you will not be able to flush your toilets, bathe or place any water down the drain. You can continue to drink and cook with our water, it just can’t be put down the drain. Doing so will cause sewage to back up into your home and it will become a smelly mess.
We have arranged to have a portable toilet placed at the entrance to each street in the subdivision. Please be considerate of your neighbors during the 6:30 – 9:30 AM bathroom rush. No reading material allowed. Also, any lines that form should be 40 feet from the toilet for privacy reasons. While this will have a negative impact on our early morning rush, the female members of our board insisted that I remind the men to use the portable toilets at all times. There will also be a toilet at the front entrance that will be designated for emergency use only. We have arranged to have these toilets cleaned every third day rather than the standard weekly schedule.
The County has given us special permission to use a privately enclosed cold water shower on each street. We must use biodegradable soap and shampoo since this water will drain into the storm water system. This soap will be provided to you by the HOA free of charge. Also, a sign-up sheet will be placed on the front of the shower. Please respect the 4-minute time limit. Please bring your own towel and a discrete bathrobe. On the bright side, this may be an opportunity for our neighbors to better get to know one another.
Unfortunately, I’ll be on vacation for the next two weeks. Please call me with any questions or concerns that you may have. We have a special "hot line" at 1-800 (APR-FOOL).
Good Luck
P.S. This joke could become a reality if we continue to throw our fats, oils and grease down the drain.
And I was sort of looking forward to meeting more of my neighbors! :)
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8 comments:
You and your neighbors have my sympathy. If any should have need of a bathroom, please give them my email address and have them contact me.
I am reminded of a sewer related problem I had here several years ago. My ranch house has a four or six, I forget which, inch drain pipe that runs from the kitchen, past two bathrooms, and then down to the basement, picking up another bathroom and laundry room on its way to the old septic tank, then u-turning out to the sewer pipe under the street. I'd had my plumber out a few times to snake the pipe because of backing up when I'd use a lot of water in the kitchen. Eventually, it got to the point where flushing one of my low flow toilets would cause backing up, and we couldn't use water at all if there would be any going down a drain. He came out and tried to get into the drain line with his snake and called me to the crawl space to see something. This big pipe only had enough space that I could force my thumb part way into it. The rest was clogged with rust, and the remnants of everything that had gone down the drains. I'll grant you I got nearly fifty years from that pipe. It was cut down in place and still rests under the new PVC drain line. I ran a bunch of water at the plumber's direction and it flowed beautifully for about five minutes. Then it backed up. He went outside, found the pipe, and built a clean-out access, inserting his snake and hitting a big block at the street. I called the county and they were out within two hours, diagnosed the problem, showed me the work order they'd written, and explained it might be a week or more before they could start. I was able to limp along until they finished work. They dug down nearly twenty feet into my front yard and dug up all the pipe there and out into the street. I was without water at all for a full day. They were very impressive, staying until they were sure things were sufficiently secure that I could have water and sewer again. The put in their own clean-out access in the front yard and used it to spray high pressure water down their big sewer pipe to break up blockages downstream. That was perhaps seven years ago and I've not had a bit of trouble since. When they returned the next day, they did a beautiful job of landscaping the area they'd dug up, and it remains the nicest part of the front yard.
Mark: So glad you had such a positive experience.
And, by the way, perhaps it wasn't clear--but that letter was an April Fool's joke from our HOA prez! I think it's one of the best I've seen on a while! of course, what made it work is that it could be reaility at any time!
It entirely escaped my notice that the letter was a prank. Such is life. I am glad to hear it as the reliance on our modern sewer systems is heavy.
Thank you so much for this post, Pattie. Until I started working in the Bureau of Watershed Protection for the City of Atlanta, I had no idea how much infrastructure and effort goes into stormwater management, nor did I have any idea that my own behavior (like washing my car in the driveway) was contributing to pollution in our streams. Our bureau is working on implementing green infrastructure policy (using infrastructure that mimics the natural hydrology of the land) and hopefully this will ultimately lead to a more sustainable Atlanta! Thanks again for this post!
PS- in your list of green infrastructure methods, you forgot green roofs! They are by far the coolest form of green infrastructure. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is coming to Atlanta for their annual conference. I believe it is June 3-6 at the Hyatt in Downtown Atlanta. I'll be there! More information is available at http://www.greenroofs.org/
Thanks!
Thanks, Kenna. I'd love to see more about the green infrastructure policy, and thanks for reminding me about green roofs! That just feels an awful long way away for Dunwoody.
I remember some tuff rows to hoe, I feel for your community. Best of luck to the stormwater management.
The family and I just moved to a smaller city 40+ north of San Francisco. Summers aren't that bad, but I want to conserve as much water as possible, especially since the prices for water around here tend to be on the high side. Plus, they're big on water conservation here...
Anyway, would you be able to provide a tutorial on how to make a rain barrel?
Thanks!
I took a class at a nearby community garden to learn how to build my rain barrel. It was pretty easy, but I'm afraid I'll screw up a detail if I try to tell you exactly how! I'm sure you can find a class near you, especially in the SF area!
Let us know how it goes!
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