Posters, Maps & Illustrations: INNOVATIVE STORMWATER PROGRAMS
The Mt. Airy Raincatchers Project
"Rain gardens - a beautiful solution to pollution"
...an innovative "reverse auction" method of encouraging the public to participate in reducing stormwater runoff
The Mt. Airy Rain Catchers Project offered home owners the chance to receive a free rain garden - a natural landscape feature that uses less water, fewer chemicals and less time to maintain than the average lawn. The installation was free of charge including three years of maintenance! (Installation, planting and hardware costs were borne by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
Each home was eligible to receive up to four rain barrels and a rain garden. Homeowners could choose to receive either or both. Many Mt. Airy residents chose to have one or more rain barrels installed to collect and store rainfall from the roof. During a rainfall, each barrel collected 55 to 75 gallons of rain water for use in the yard and garden.
The benefits of rain gardens extend beyond the yard to the drainage ways and area streams. When you catch the rain water and let it soak into the ground, less of it will run off onto the hillsides and ditches. Less water running off means less soil erosion, reduced flooding, and better water quality downstream.
The Mt. Airy Rain Catcher Project was planned and funded by the Office of Research and Development, Sustainable Environments Branch, of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
This pilot program is testing an auction-based method of encouraging the public to participate in reducing stormwater runoff and pollution at the household level. Installation, planting and hardware costs were borne by EPA. For their time on this project, homeowners bid the amount they wished to be paid for installation and maintenance of rain gardens and rain barrels. Lower payments (lower bids) were more likely to be selected...and most people bid "zero" dollars.
After the auction-winners were selected, US EPA's contractors installed 50 rain gardens and 100 rain barrels at the selected homes in the summer of 2007 and provided each rain catcher owner with an owner's manual.
• US EPA contractors will maintain the rain gardens at no charge to homeowners through 2010. Homeowners will maintain the rain barrels by emptying them after rainfall and closing the valve before the next rainfall. During winter months, owners should drain and disconnect rain barrels from the downspouts.
Go to the
Mt. Airy Raincatchers Project website
Mt. Airy is near Cincinnati, Ohio
The EPA's consultant on the project is Tetra Tech.
"Rain gardens - a beautiful solution to pollution"
...an innovative "reverse auction" method of encouraging the public to participate in reducing stormwater runoff
The Mt. Airy Rain Catchers Project offered home owners the chance to receive a free rain garden - a natural landscape feature that uses less water, fewer chemicals and less time to maintain than the average lawn. The installation was free of charge including three years of maintenance! (Installation, planting and hardware costs were borne by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
Each home was eligible to receive up to four rain barrels and a rain garden. Homeowners could choose to receive either or both. Many Mt. Airy residents chose to have one or more rain barrels installed to collect and store rainfall from the roof. During a rainfall, each barrel collected 55 to 75 gallons of rain water for use in the yard and garden.
The benefits of rain gardens extend beyond the yard to the drainage ways and area streams. When you catch the rain water and let it soak into the ground, less of it will run off onto the hillsides and ditches. Less water running off means less soil erosion, reduced flooding, and better water quality downstream.
The Mt. Airy Rain Catcher Project was planned and funded by the Office of Research and Development, Sustainable Environments Branch, of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
This pilot program is testing an auction-based method of encouraging the public to participate in reducing stormwater runoff and pollution at the household level. Installation, planting and hardware costs were borne by EPA. For their time on this project, homeowners bid the amount they wished to be paid for installation and maintenance of rain gardens and rain barrels. Lower payments (lower bids) were more likely to be selected...and most people bid "zero" dollars.
After the auction-winners were selected, US EPA's contractors installed 50 rain gardens and 100 rain barrels at the selected homes in the summer of 2007 and provided each rain catcher owner with an owner's manual.
• US EPA contractors will maintain the rain gardens at no charge to homeowners through 2010. Homeowners will maintain the rain barrels by emptying them after rainfall and closing the valve before the next rainfall. During winter months, owners should drain and disconnect rain barrels from the downspouts.
Go to the
Mt. Airy Raincatchers Project website
Mt. Airy is near Cincinnati, Ohio
The EPA's consultant on the project is Tetra Tech.
20th February 2010 · by
