Rain, rain, come and stay

continued

stormwater.

“Our goal is to make rain gardens commonplace,” says Harry Sheehan, environmental manager at the county water resources office. “We want thousands of people to do this.”

They’ll have their work cut out for them. Through 2010, only about 165 rain gardens had been installed in Ann Arbor. The city is hoping to encourage more, and in doing so, diminish troublesome storm water runoff, by offering discounts to anyone who installs a rain garden, cistern, or rain barrel, or pledges to run a RiverSafe Home (by, for example, properly disposing of hazardous wastes and minimizing use of lawn fertilizers). Do all three and you could save 25 percent on your storm water bill.   

[Originally published in April, 2012.]