Mt. Airy Rain Catchers

Mid-summer Update

This spring and early summer, we maintained the rain gardens by weeding, mulching, edging, and trimming dead plants. In some cases, we had to do some repairs to eliminate standing water - we want the water to stand in the gardens for a few hours after a rain, even a day or so is OK, but no longer than that to avoid problems with mosquitoes.

Tetra Tech will be in the area periodically this summer to check on the gardens and fix things that crop up. We will be doing another maintenance round this fall, including adding more plants to some gardens.

Owners should be proud to be a part of this important effort to understand green technologies and improve our streams and rivers. (Updated July 2009)

Welcome to the Mt. Airy Rain Catchers Project. This is your one-stop shop to learn about the project and find information on rain gardens and rain barrels. Here, you can learn about the advantages of catching rain in your yard and catching rain can improve the environment. Questions or concerns? Feel free to contact your local project-leader.

The Mt. Airy Rain Catchers Project

The Rain Catchers project offered home owners the chance to receive an exciting, natural landscape feature that uses less water, fewer chemicals and, most importantly, less time to maintain than the average lawn. The installation was free of charge including three years of maintenance!

Many Mt. Airy residents chose to have one or more rain barrels installed to collect and store rainfall from the roof. During a rainfall, each barrell collected 55 to 75 gallons of rain water for use in the yard and garden.

The benefits of rain catchers extend beyond the yard to the drainage ways and area streams. When you catch the rain water and let it soak into the ground, less of it will run off onto the hillsides and ditches. Less water running off means less soil erosion, reduced flooding, and better water quality downstream.

Mt. Airy Rain Catchers Brochure (PDF file)

Page Top

How Can Rainfall Pollute?

Rainfall causes pollution problems in our communities because it runs off paved areas where it collects and transports soil, pet waste, salt, pesticides, fertilizer, oil and grease, litter and other pollutants. This stormwater flows directly into nearby creeks and streams without receiving treatment at sewage plants. Polluted stormwater contaminates our local creeks and streams (for example, Shepherd Creek), which affects recreation, fish and wildlife habitat, and aesthetic value.

Overloaded storm drains also lead to local flooding and flooding-related damage to our properties and communities. We pay the increasing costs of stormwater runoff problems: flood damage (to buildings and also roads), water pollution, lost recreational value, dwindling ground water supplies and harm to native fish and wildlife.

Rain gardens can help prevent these runoff problems by allowing more rainfall to soak into the ground– about 30 percent more rainfall will soak into a rain garden than a conventional lawn. In fact, you can think of rain gardens as “a beautiful solution to pollution.”

Page Top

Advantages of Catching Rain in Your Yard

Photo of a butterfly. Everyone uses lots of water in the summertime. If you have a rain garden or a rain barrel, you will use less water and fewer chemicals-meaning you can save on water bills and yard maintenance costs. Local water quality will benefit from a decrease in chemical pollutants and lowered runoff will decrease local flooding. As a bonus, rain gardens are attractive and add aesthetic value to any garden or property.

A beauty to the eye and a boon to the environment, this landscape feature is a fun, innovative way to put rainfall to use in growing beautiful wildflowers and native plants.