Easy Ways to Manage Rainwater for Lower Bills and a Healthier Earth
Send cleaner runoff into local waterways and spend less on yard irrigation with simple landscaping approaches
“If the crankcase in your car’s engine leaked, you’d probably do something about it. Same goes for parts in your shower,” writes Bill Goodnick in an article posted on the houzz.com website. He is a landscape architect, writer for Houzz and a number of national and regional magazines, author of “Yards: Turn Any Outdoor Space Into the Garden of Your Dreams”, college professor and speaker.
“But have you paid attention to what might be leaking off your property when it rains? In the dark ages of subdivision design, rain that fell on roofs, patios and oil-stained driveways was treated as the enemy. ‘Stick it in a pipe and get that stuff off the property,’ was what I learned when I was studying landscape architecture.”
“Fortunately, for the sake of our rivers, streams and shorelines, the age of enlightenment now shines upon the discipline of stormwater management.”
“The benefits of handling stormwater intelligently? More water stays on your property, reducing your irrigation bill. In low-rainfall areas, allowing rainwater to seep into your garden helps leach out salts that accumulate in the soil from mineral in the municipal water supplies. And then there’s the good you’ll be doing for the environment by not overtaxing storm drains, by reducing the algae buildup that results from nutrient-laden runoff and by releasing cleaner water into natural waterways.”
A Testimonial
“This is one more example of good rainwater writing in mass media. This can do as much for stormwater as any rule (by the US Environmental Protection Agency),” 
observes Lisa Nisenson, author of the November 2006 Zoning Practice article Stormwater Regulation and Urban Design. “I love the reference to divots. I read a research brief once that noted the impacts of infill were as much to do with smoothing out ‘bumpy’ yards as is increase in built upon area.”
To Learn More:
To download a copy of the complete article by Billy Goodnick, click on Easy Ways to Manage Stormwater for Lower Bills and a Healthier Earth