[Durham INC] Stormwater

[Pat Carstensen]

Barry -- good for you on doing something besides putting in a French drain to shunt the water down to the next guy!

For the first few years with fluorescent bulbs, not many folks used them and those who did paid a lot and put up with a certain amount of inconvenience.  We are, at best, in this early adopter stage with respect to managing stormwater in a VERY local way.

Ideally, property owners would get a break on their stormwater fees by putting in and maintaining stormwater management (the maintenance to be checked as part of the tax re-valuation process), as well as having higher rates for things like the back-yard parking.  But first we would need to know what works and what doesn't, and be able to quantify benefits enough to set the discount rates.  

I see the process of folks looking at their own yards, watching where the water goes and thinking about how to keep more of it, and talking about strategies with their neighbors as being an important first step in figuring this all out.

Regards, pat

> Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 11:37:33 -0400
> From: bragin at nc.rr.com
> To: pats1717 at hotmail.com
> CC: inc-list at durhaminc.org
> Subject: Re: [Durham INC] Stormwater
> 
> Pat - this assumes that individual homeowners and landlords actually 
> *care* about the results of their actions or inactions. I think 
> educating the population about this issue is more properly the job of 
> the city and county government, as is enacting policy that incentivizes 
> good stormwater management by individual property owners, and actively 
> discourages, for example, such moves as turning your entire backyard 
> into a parking lot. Which, in those parts of the city built before the 
> 1994 planning department merger, is completely legal.
> 
> In my yard, i've dug a couple of large depressions at the top and bottom 
> of the hill to hold water, and banked those with dirt and stone. I'm 
> still trying to fill them with native plants that don't mind getting 
> their feet wet. I've dug a swale between the two areas and lined it with 
> stone. hopefully this is slowing the water running off from the 3 or 4 
> houses at the top of the hill that drain into my yard which are, in 
> fact, nothing but parking areas.
> 
> Barry Ragin
> 
> Pat Carstensen wrote:
> > Regardless of what the state or feds say about stormwater, I think we 
> > need to think creatively about how to do better with stormwater. Not 
> > only do we drink water from the lake, but
> >
> > 1) I'm sure everyone knows folks who complain about about the pools of 
> > water around their house every time it rains, because run-off from 
> > several lots runs onto one yard
> > 2) Rockwood came to INC years ago to talk about what to do about 
> > mosquitoes breeding in standing water in the park (I'm assuming a lot 
> > of the water came from Rockwood itself)
> >
> > So, what is the equivalent of the compact fluorescent lightbulb for 
> > stormwater. What simple things can homeowners do on their property 
> > that is cheap, simple and effective?
> >
> > I know about water gardens, and some communities are doing a lot 
> > around them:
> > http://www.raingardeninitiative.org/
> > But that is more like replacing windows (bigger investment, bigger 
> > pay-off, possible source of green jobs, but not something you decide 
> > to do on a weekend)
> >
> > What I am doing:
> > 1) Ripped up the black plastic the previous homeowner put down
> > 2) Put perennial flower beds along curb (they may have higher run-off 
> > than grass but they are raised so hold back the run-off from yard 
> > above it)
> > 3) There is a small copse in front of the house that captures a lot of 
> > the water off the house
> > 4) We put small wood barriers across a path that goes down toward the 
> > street. They create a series of small puddles in the path. This slows 
> > the flow so whatever water that gets to the street is cleaner.
> > 5) My latest effort is trying to figure out how I can increase the 
> > puddles / decrease flow velocity in the narrow stretch of yard that 
> > still has unprotected flow down to the street. I don't want to 
> > completely dig up the yard and don't want obvious barriers. Any ideas 
> > on this?
> >
> > Anyhow, I think this is something neighborhoods can do a lot on.
> >
> > Regards, pat
> >
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