[getsmart-l] Rain Harvesting In Michigan

[Kevin Mercer]

Just a Toronto finally gets around to mandatory downspout disconnections, US
municipalities are moving into storm water utilities that charge residents
for the costs imposed on the environment and municipal infrastructure of
their storm water runoff. 

The City of Toronto rainbarrel program, while dating back to the early
nineties, has fallen on hard times, committed as it is, inexplicably, to
offering only one very ugly 214 litre rain barrel while numerous other
cities subsidize even larger rain barrels for their residents and also
providing a tax based carrot and stick approach of permeability co-efficient
based runoff charges to property owners. 

Kevin Mercer 


RAIN BARRELS AND RAIN RUNOFF 
Tracy Samilton
November 5, 2007
As cities cover more and more surface with pavement and buildings, it's
taking a toll on the environment. Heavy rains flood off the impervious
surfaces and overload drains and creeks. Some cities are trying new methods
to control the problem. As Tracy Samilton reports, Ann Arbor, Michigan is
asking its residents to play a role by catching their home's rainwater in
rain barrels: 

 Miller's Creek in Ann Arbor is not a pretty creek. Part of it runs
alongside a congested four-lane road in one of the most developed areas of
the city. Since there's almost no place left for rain to seep slowly in the
ground, it pours off the road and parking lots and rooftops right into the
creek: 

"What you can see is all the roots that are exposed and very high banks..." 

Laura Rubin is head of the Huron River Watershed Council. Miller's Creek is
part of the watershed. She says rain storms carry pollutants and sediment
into the creek, and sweep away animal and plant species that might otherwise
live here: 

"This is not a healthy creek we call this impaired when they get flows
they're so strong that they're tearing away the banks." 

Rubin would like Miller's Creek to be vibrant with life again one day. But a
lot of changes will have to happen first. She says nearby businesses will
have to build wetlands to retain their storm water. The city will have to
repave the roads to allow more drainage. And in such a heavily populated
area, residents will have to do something too. Rubin says the first step is
teaching people that a single point source of pollution like a big factory
is no longer the biggest threat to water in their neighborhood: 

"Now the main source of pollution is non-point pollution and that's us." 

Rubin says rain barrels could play a significant role in healing Miller's
Creek. Rain barrels are just like they sound: big barrels that collect water
from a home's rain gutters, to be dispersed later onto lawns or gardens. One
rain barrel can retain up to thirty percent of storm water falling on a
house. Under a dark grey sky that bodes rain, Dave Aikins shows off his: 

"It's a big, uh, green trash can-like object...aesthetically, uh, I'm not
prepared to defend it." 

Aikins owns a medium-size house in downtown Ann Arbor. Now, with a rain
barrel installed on one side, he'll catch half the rain that falls on the
house. He uses it to water his garden, but says someday he might rig it so
he can use the water for his laundry machine. A neighbor kiddy-corner from
him has installed one too, and they've had neighborly arguments about proper
installation and usage. He likes how the rain barrel makes him feel. 

"Living in an urban area, there's no direct impact on you whether it rains
or not and this puts you back connected to natural environment, so you start
to care about whether you get your rain today." 

Aikins and other city residents have more than environmental reasons to
install rain barrels. The city water department is using a carrot and stick
approach to encourage their adoption. Installing a rain barrel gets you a
modest discount on the City of Ann Arbor's new storm water rates. Tom
McMurtry is head of the new program: 

"Under the old system, we charged one flat rate for every single household
whether you were an 800-square foot home in the city or a 5,000 square-foot
mega-mansion." 

Now, the city will charge four different rates depending on the amount of
impervious pavement and size of the roof on the house. The highest rate is
three times more than the former flat rate, to better reflect a big home's
impact on the city's drains and creeks. McMurtrie says about (blank) people
have installed a rain barrel and applied for the credit. He'd like to see at
least 3,000 rain barrels installed throughout the city. He doesn't know how
long it will take to accomplish that: 

"But every little bit helps." 

It's an experiment in progress to see if having lots of rain barrels around
Miller's Creek will help restore it. According to Laura Rubin of the Huron
River Watershed Council, it took about fifty years to damage the creek this
badly. It could take another fifty to bring it back to health. 

For the Environment Report, I'm Tracy Samilton.

C 2006 Environment Report 

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