Homeowner's Guide
'Rainscaping' | Tips for Reducing Stormwater Runoff
The key to successfully managing stormwater runoff is to slow the flow of water across your property. An emerging term for this practice is "rainscaping," which means using the landscape to redirect, slow, catch and filter stormwater runoff. In short, it's a way of repurposing rain water, reducing erosion and other property damage, and improving our overall water quality in the process.
We've put together a list of changes a homeowner can make that can add to your enjoyment of your property while improving the watershed and helping to alleviate flooding.
1) PLANT A TREE. It's hard to overestimate how much of a difference one tree can make. Trees hold rain on their leaves, store water in their root systems, and reduce erosion by slowing the flow and allowing water to percolate because their fallen leaves create a spongy, absorbent layer on the ground under the tree.
Quoting the website treebenefits.com, here's a list of a few common neighborhood trees and the contributions they make.
- A mature dogwood intercepts 466 gallons of water/
year and reduces 772 pounds of carbon dioxide.
- A mature pin oak - 2227 gallons of water and 1260
pounds of carbon dioxide.
- A mature river birch - 998 gallons of water and 589
pounds of carbon dioxide.
- A mature willow - 1135 gallons of water and 635
pounds of carbon dioxide.
2) REPLACE some of your lawn with grasses, flowers, shrubs, anything that will increase the ability of the land to absorb water and slow the flow. For maximum impact, plant a rain garden, which features a depressed area in the landscape to collect water from roof downspouts, asphalt or sump pump discharge and allow it to soak into the ground or evaporate into the air rather than enter the storm sewer system. Less runoff from your home means less channel erosion and fewer suspended solids and pollution in the waterways. Rain garden plantings must be able to tolerate a range of conditions from periods of standing water to extended drought. Here's a list of rain garden plants recommended by Penn State Extension.
3) ADJUST the height of your lawn mower to a minimum of 3". Taller grass slows the rate of runoff and produces a deeper, denser root system, which will absorb more water, prevent erosion, and suppress weeds.
4) CONSIDER pervious pavers as a replacement for walkways and parking areas. The gaps between the pavers allow for water to infiltrate instead of running off.
5) MAKE SURE your downspout is directed to a lawn or garden area and not at a paved surface. And direct them away from your foundation.
6) USE a rain barrel to collect rainwater as it runs from your roof; use the water for your garden/plants.
7) PLANT a ground cover on steep slopes to help prevent erosion.
8) BUILD a riparian buffer (a vegetated “buffer-strip” near a stream, which helps to shade and partially protect the stream from the impact of adjacent urban, industrial or agricultural land use) if you have a stream-side property.
9) REDUCE OR ELIMINATE your use of pesticides in your lawn and gardens (choosing natural alternatives or even a technique like "integrated pest management.") According to the National Coalition for Pesticide Free Lawns, of the 30 commonly detected lawn pesticides in the US:
- 17 are detected in groundwater
- 23 have the ability to leach into drinking water sources
- 24 are toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms vital to our ecosystem
- 11 are toxic to bees
- and 16 are toxic to birds.
This list of items may seem like they couldn't make a big difference, but the collective efforts of you and your neighbors will improve the watershed and help alleviate flooding. (Remember the power of even one tree to reduce stormwater runoff, using their leaf canopies, their roots, and even their leaf litter!) Incorporating even a few changes will make a difference for us all.
