Reedy Creek Watershed Protection Audit Part I
In the interest of improving the environment and our yard we are working with the folks of the Reedy Creek Coalition to do an audit of our yard. In the simplest of terms this is a two part process. Part I, which is what this post is about consists of trained volunteers taking measurements, asking questions, taking soil samples, and a visual inspection of the property.
What is the Reedy Creek Coalition? That question is best answered by the Coalition from their Pre-Audit Information.pdf or check out our previous posts on the Reedy Creek Coalition.
The Reedy Creek Coalition is committed to restoring the health and beauty of Reedy Creek through education, training, and collaboration with all residents and users of the Reedy Creek Watershed and its natural resources. Healthy watersheds are an integral part of vibrant, healthy communities. We also strongly encourage water conservation and other landscape practices that help restore the natural ecosystems that contribute to a healthy watershed.
Find out more about the first part of our Audit after the break.
The two volunteers were Suzette Lyon and Ruth (didn’t catch the last name) and they stopped by on a drizzly Sunday afternoon. After a quick explanation of what they were going to do I stood back and watched them go to work.
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Above is a soil sample. Our yard has lots of clay with very little loose organic material on the top layer. This is bad but very common for this neighborhood. Due to the clay the water has a hard time penetrating into the ground and will most likely run off the yard into the watershed. This is what we are trying to avoid.
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Measurements were taken to figure out what % of our property is impervious and a sketch of the property was made.
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During the entire process Suzette was incredibly helpful at answering questions and asking what we wanted to do with our yard and our goals. She also pointed out what she quickly saw as some areas where we can make improvements. The picture above is one area that is a problem. As you can see the gutter drains straight onto the walkway which would then drain to the road. Due to the placement of the walkway and drain, a rain barrel is not a viable solution. Instead Suzette suggested that we create a wet garden in the area that our makeshift pvc pipe drains the water into.
The whole process took about 45 minutes. The next step is that Suzette and other volunteers are going to take a look at the data gathered and present us with some suggestions. Those suggestions are going to include, rough plans for some beds of native plants, ideas for a wet garden and perhaps some smaller trees that will help fight the clay. I should get that report in a little over 2 weeks and will post it when I have it hand.
If you would like to have an audit done please contact the Reedy Creek Coalition at reedycreekcoalition@gmail.com. Even better if you can get a group of neighbors together you can make an even bigger impact on your neighborhood and watershed. I can’t speak enough about how easy the process was and highly recommend contacting the Coalition.
This is a good idea, and should get people more aware of caring for a delicate watershed like Reedy Creek. I participated in a clean up with Suzette at Crooked Branch and really appreciate her efforts. Reedy Creek needs help to stay clean and free of debris, but the silting that eventually clogged Forest Hill Lake can be slowed with better yard management, etc. Good post Richard!
Remember though that no matter how much of your own stormwater management you do, the city isn’t going to reduce or eliminate your stormwater tax… I mean fee. We built a huge drain field under our patio with a french drain and rain barrels…. and despite spending that much money, time and effort, we still got assessed at the higher “stormwater management fee” for the patio square footage as “impervious structure” or whatever they call it. So if you do it, you’re just doing it to be a good person.
CSB – people may not get an immediate reduction in their stormwater utility fee. However, anything residents do on the landscape will help prevent more soil from filling in the lake at Forest Hill Park. The City just dropped $1.7 million in city taxpayer money on that effort. I would certainly think city residents have a vested interest in preventing the lake from filling up full of soil again. No one wants to see another bill like that again!
CSB,
The Code of Virginia did not permit credits for remediation to be given to residential property owners. However, that changed in this session of the General Assembly for the City of Richmond alone. Effective July 1, the city administration can develop and implement remediation credits for remediation or mitigation efforts.
What folks might want to keep in mind is that by implementing some of these changes, it is possible to *save* money on watering costs for your garden.
BTW the term is “Rain Garden” not “wet garden.”
Also, the prevalence of heavy clay soil with little loose organic material is an example of how leaf disposal can backfire. Leaf removal deprives soils of that valuable organic matter.
When the Mayor’s budget comes out, we probably won’t have to worry about leaf removal anymore.
[...] this week we received the results back from our watershed protection audit. Very interesting read. The report breaks it down into categories and gives a rating, reason for [...]
[...] ran two posts about the audit: Part I, Part 2 read those for a more detailed picture of what is happening at a local level. We [...]