Conservation Techniques for Watershed Wise Backyards and Businesses
ClearWater Conservancy converted our office site into a demonstration of conservation techniques that can be used by homeowners and businesses to improve the quality of our watershed. Specifically, the project shows how we can all work in our own yards to reduce non-point source pollution, conserve water, and improve wildlife habitat. The techniques demonstrated include rain gardens, rain barrels, pervious surfaces, lawn alternatives, and native plants. Outreach will include interpretive panels and a series of workshops related to these on the techniques.
View the July 2003 Project Summary Brochure.
The project shows how, as a community, we can work in our own backyards to improve our watersheds. Many ecological problems common to our region, such as impaired streams, depleted groundwater levels and fragmentation of habitat, are contributed to by land use. At the level of the site, landowners can minimize their contribution to these problems, and if enough landowners take responsibility for the effect of their land use on the environment, noticeable progress could be made toward improving the quality and quantity of our natural resources.
Stormwater Pollution: Impervious surfaces, such as roads, parking lots, and rooftops, cannot absorb stormwater. Instead, stormwater runs over these surfaces, picking up pollutants which are taken by the storm sewer system to the nearest stream. This polluted stormwater runoff is a major source of pollution in our streams, negatively impacting people, plants, and animals.
Depletion of Groundwater: Rising demand for water is depleting our groundwater supplies. We can conserve groundwater by reducing our water use and by encouraging stormwater infiltration through the soil, which recharges the groundwater.
Loss of Habitat: Development results in a loss of wildlife habitat through the removal of vegetation animals need for cover, food, and migration corridors.
Rain gardens offer an attractive way to decrease stormwater runoff and recharge groundwater. For the homeowner, a rain garden can simply be a shallow, landscaped depression in the yard, positioned to capture stormwater runoff. Rain gardens are planted with native, water-tolerant plants, providing wildlife habitat. By capturing stormwater runoff, rain gardens reduce the amount of polluted stormwater reaching streams and promote groundwater infiltration.
- Native Plants in the Landscape
Native plants are those that occur in a particular region without human intervention. Because they have adapted to local physical and biotic conditions, native plants often require less fertilizer and watering than exotic species once established, and are resistant to most pests and diseases. Also, native plants provide the food and shelter with which native animals have evolved. View the native plants in ClearWater's gardens.
By replacing one’s lawns with native plants, the yard can provide wildlife habitat, reduce its contribution to pollution, and require less maintenance. Lawns provide little habitat for wildlife; require mowing, which contributes to air pollution; may require fertilizer (which can run off the lawn and make its way to streams; and may require watering, which depletes groundwater supplies. Depending on the conditions, appropriate alternatives to lawn may include native groundcover, a native wildflower meadow, or native woodland plants.
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Rain Barrels
Rain barrels are large containers that are placed at downspouts to capture rooftop runoff and store it or later use. Rooftops are sources of stormwater runoff that are often overlooked when landowners think about managing stormwater, but are typically a large component of a property’s impervious surface. By intercepting rooftop runoff, the stormwater is prevented from entering the storm sewer system, which typically empties into streams.
Here's an example of someone else's work with rain barrels: Rain Barrel Guide.
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Pervious Surfaces
Pervious surfaces are those which allow water to penetrate them. Impervious surfaces are those which do not allow water to penetrate them. Examples of impervious surface include parking lots, driveways, roads, and rooftops. Stormwater runs over impervious surfaces, picking up pollutants before reaching the storm sewer system. By reducing impervious surfaces, stormwater runoff is reduced and groundwater infiltration is increased. Pervious surfaces that can be used in place of impervious surfaces include porous concrete, grass paving blocks, gravel, and mulch.
With the installation phase complete, on-site interpretive panels, brochures, and workshops will teach the community about the conservation techniques demonstrated. Being at the highly visible location at the corner of North Atherton Street and Valley Vista Drive (across from the new Lowe's and soon-to-be Home Depot), the site provides an exciting opportunity to educate the community through this demonstration project.
In fact, the Lowe's stormwater management design was based on several concepts demonstrated at the ClearWater Conservancy office. Patton Township's engineer required Lowe's to review ClearWater's project and incorporate some environmentally sustainable features. When visiting Lowe's, look for the series of five tiered rain gardens handling the site's stormwater and for the native plants and meadows. Interpretive panels and a trail offer the visitor an educational experience.
Western Pennsylvania Watershed Protection Program http://www.pawatersheds.org/WPWPP
Canaan Valley Institute
Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc.
Very sincere thanks to the following local businesses and organizations contributing to this effort:
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Glenn O. Hawbaker, Inc. (construction services and topsoil) |
Brian Auman, R.L.A. (ecological design consultation) |
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Green Horizon Landscape (walkway design and paver installation) |
The Spruce Creek Company (Rainsaver rain barrel) |
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Black Bear Nursery, Winburne, PA 814/345-6953 (many, many plants) |
Borough of State College (compost) |
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Patton Township patton.centreconnect.org/patton.htm (engineering and construction services) |
Nature’s Cover 814/355-1960 (stone, mulch) |
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Kohlhepp Stone Center (pavers) |
Hanson Aggregates (stone) |
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Green Thumb Services 814/643-3565 (landscape design) |
Stone Valley Construction 814/237-8757 (trucking services) |
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Larry Fennessey, P.E. (stormwater engineering consultation) |