Urban Stormwater- What We've Been Up To
/The last two months have been incredibly busy for our Urban Stormwater team, and we’ve had a hard time keeping up! From installing rain gardens to teaching rain barrel workshops, our staff is hard at work to offer creative ideas and incentives to help residents, businesses, schools, homeowners associations, cities, and tribes in finding creative ways to manage water in our landscapes. Here’s a short recap of what they’ve been doing.
Lynnwood Volunteer Planting Party
September 26
Thanks to the partnership between Snohomish Conservation District and the City of Lynnwood, six new rain gardens have been installed this year. In September, community members got involved by helping us plant. Attendees were entered to win a free rain barrel!
Later that day, South County Walks toured our newly-planted rain gardens on their walk. When you take the steps to build a beautiful, environmentally-friendly addition to your lawn, the whole community benefits!
Bothell Rain Barrel Workshop
September 28
Managing water during the rainy season can benefit you later when our dry northwest summer weather arrives. In this hands-on, outdoors workshop, attendees learned different techniques to harvest rainwater, efficient tools for watering, when to water, and how to ensure their soil has its best water-holding capacity. Snohomish Conservation District then provided all the tools, equipment, and expertise to help attendees make their own 55-gallon rain barrel to take home.
If you’re interested in owning your own rain barrel, visit here.
Mountlake Terrace Rain Garden Workshop
September 28
On the same day over in Mountlake Terrace, our staff taught attendees all they needed to know about rain gardens and other techniques to reduce their lawn and make their landscape more resilient. Nearly 70 people attended! Information was provided on incentives and other ways to make these ideas a reality in your own backyard.
Alternatives to Lawn
October 3
In Everett, our staff combatted the never-ending battle against moss and lawn mowing in the Pacific Northwest by offering several alternatives. Unique landscaping that is both beautiful and can help with stormwater runoff was a hot topic. They also discussed bog gardens, filter strips, terraces, buffers, berms, splash blocks, layered plantings, and permeable pathways.
Everett Rain Garden Tour
October 12
We had a rain garden walking tour in Historic North Everett for those interested in exploring this lawn alternative. Of course, these gardens do all the work in your yard by collecting, absorbing, and filtering the rain that runs off your roof.
If you’re interested in learning more about lawn alternatives, how you can make the most use of rainwater, or are having issues with seasonal flooding in your urban neighborhood, please contact David Jackson at djackson@snohomishcd.org.
