Friday, August 9, 2019 @ Noon

Alleys and Gardens as Filters for

Water Draining to the Creeks

Tour meets at the Bryan Garage. Please consider parking at the Wharf parking lot and walking up Federal Street to the Alley.

With the recent hard afternoon rains, we are witnessing runoff.  Protecting the Chesapeake Bay requires control of water and nutrients. We can help by reducing the amount leaving individual properties and neighborhoods.  Most homes fill the lot in historic neighborhoods and offer little space to create rain gardens or drywells.  The water must be kept away from historic buildings and walls.

Let us consider neighborhood alleyways and gardens becoming the filters for water draining to the creeks.  Alleys could become a permeable drive, a bioswale, or even a riparian buffer. If a yard is large enough, a rain garden can absorb and slow drainage.

Rachel M. Winter, Education Specialist for the Headwaters Soil and Water Conservation District will discuss how raingardens/bioretentions need to be planned and constructed to meet their cost share program.

For further reading, here is a relevant urban planning resource:

https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/cdot/Green_Alley_Handbook_2010.pdf