Don't you love this idea? I can just see this as a rose garden :-)
In
the heart of a residential neighborhood there is a wonderful community
garden with some amazing surprises. Community gardens are very special
for a multitude of reasons. They provide small growing plots to people
who may not have access to any other planting area. They are popping up
all over urban and suburban centers all over the United States . In
place of debris, abandoned neglected vacant lots, greenery, flowers and
vegetables are sprouting. People are taking pride in their new gardens
and neighborhoods improve because of them. New friendships bloom. Going
green, producing your own locally grown food and being politically
correct: it's all great!
Community development techniques -- both commercial and residential -- have a major impact on fresh water supplies and the surface and underground water system. Pavement is a big contributor to the problem. Now it can provide a solution.
Sustainable Solutions with Low Impact Development
L.I.D. is in. That's Low Impact Development, the standards by which the local ecosystem is minimally impacted by development, and water is preserved as a precious resource.
West coast microclimates are interesting. From rain soaked areas like San Anselmo, to rain starved areas like Bakersfield, each zone presents it own challenges for water issues. With each water challenge comes difficulties that municipalities, developers, and home-owners have to adapt to, and manage.
California Water Conservation Solutions
For example, water conservation is critical in California's central valley where each gallon of runoff can be a precious resource, if properly managed. Other areas of California offer surprising challenges -- such as Marin county, which is more like Portland, Oregon, which receives over 40 inches of rain a year.
LID offers workable solutions that developers and home-owners can implement to manage water issues whatever their situation -- dearth or deluge. Whether the issue is drought conditions or excessive runoff, sustainable water management is important to California.
Permeable Pavement allows water to rapidly pass through the pavement into a cistern or natural underground water supplies.
Modular Pavers Used in Hardscape Applications
Permeable pavement is a relatively new concept and product that reduces "impervious" surfaces from driveways, sidewalks and other hardscapes by allowing water to run through the pavement and back into the soil - not follow the hardscape to the street and eventually into our waterways. This solution retains more rainwater for our underground aquafers - but it also allows plants and the soil to filter pollutants out of the water naturally.
Permeable Pavers
One LID product that can provide solutions for water runoff and infiltration issues, large or small, is permeable pavers from Permapave Northwest.
Different from traditional concrete pavers, Permapave NW pavers have an actual flow-through rate of over 1 gallon of water per second. The pavers are manufactured from natural rock, with an acrylic polymer binder similar to the clear coat on your automobile. The finished product is a completely inert paver which returns water directly to the soil, or underground storage, without adding alkalinity, zinc or hydrocarbons to the runoff.
When permeable pavers are installed over properly prepared secondary filtration in the sub-grade, they will capture and filter 100% of gross pollutants and up to 70% phosphorus, 80% of heavy metals and 98% of hydrocarbons from the water that flows through them.
Residential Applications
Alleys, Driveways
Walkways
Patios
Camper Parking
High Traffic Grass Areas
Pools / Hot Tubs
Courtyard
Rooftops
Sidewalks / Pathways
Foundation Drainage
Commercial / Industrial Applications
Parking Areas
Pedestrian Walkway
Bike Path
Plaza / Entryway
Bioretention / Rain Garden
Rooftop
Tree Grates
Rooftops
Roadways / Median Strips
Large Public Spaces
Modular Permeable Pavers for Sustainable Landscaping
Modular pavers over an advantage over "poured" pervious pavement by allowing edges of permeable pavement to be installed in many locations - under downspouts, along sidewalks, along driveways, around trees, around rain gardens, and on or around patios.
Modular Pavers Used in Landscape Applications
Permapave NW pavers are available in a number of colors/aggregates to enhance building and landscaping aesthetics.
PermapaveNW's Permeable pavers come in a modular, 12x12x2" standard size, with widths up to 16" and thicknesses up to 4" for heavier vehicle loads.
The pavers, while extremely pervious, provide the hard surface needed for normal urban activities.
The surface not only performs well for sidewalks, biking paths, parking lots, and driveways but also handles water efficiently in both drought and flood conditions.
The EPA has long noted the benefits of pervious pavers, highlighting them in their Best Management Practices: "depending on the design, pervious pavements (pavers), when used in combination with other techniques such as vegetated swales, or vegetated filter strips, may eliminate or reduce the need for land intensive BMPs, such as dry extended detention or wet retention ponds." (EPA Best Management Practices- porous pavements)
Both residential and commercial developers may find that the use of pervious pavers, which can range up to $8 per square foot, can actually make money for them, by eliminating detention ponds and increasing the amount of land that can be developed.
Home-owners can install the easy-to-use permeable pavers themselves, providing drainage areas for driveway or patios that may be puddling, or as a pervious cover for an underground water storage cistern.
The pavers can also be used as stepping stones, in pet areas, in gardens, along walkways, as parking areas for RVs -- the landscaping possibilities are endless.
Some municipalities are offering rebates for the purchase of LID products like Permapave. Check with your local city or county city and county governments, as well as water providers (ie: Metropolitan Water District) to find incentives and rebates to improve water quality, reduce runoff, or retain stormwater.
Sustainable Solutions to Stormwater Runoff
Retaining rain water for your landscape can be especially helpful during California's prolonged droughts. By protecting your landscape with adequate water supplies from a cistern, and from focusing the available rain into specific rain gardens, your plants will not suffer as much - and your water bill will thank you, too!
Sample permeable pavers by Permapave Northwest
CONTACT:
Permapave Northwest
Distributor for Western US
1-877-694-0141
815 NE 172nd Ave
Vancouver, WA 98684 www.permapavenw.com
California has been battling water demands for 15 years and our water
supply has remained flat even with an increase in population. However,
many of the easy conservation tactics have now been implemented! And
the population is continuing to grow. The future will require tougher
water policies to keep pace with population demands. Climate changes
could also reduce the water supply.
Solutions Executive Summary
Plants are often over-watered, causing wasted water as well as diseased or sickly plants
One of the largest conservation opportunities is reducing turf grass – replace with woody plants
Optimizing your irrigation system can save 20-40% of your water use...
Changing turf species can save another 20%.
Reclaimed water is the current strategy for large conservation impact.
Water management strategy maintains quality and reduces water consumption
Green landscaping reduces water runoff, can preserve native species,
increase cooling greenery, and provide all the benefits of beauty!
Swales Are Just One of the Solutions!
Swales are densely vegetated drainageways with low-pitched
slopes that collect and slowly convey runoff. They promote
infiltration and reduce stormwater runoff volumes. Grass swales can replace curbs, gutters and storm sewer systems.
Grass swales typically cost less to construct than curbs, gutter or
storm sewer systems.
Water sustains every community... from the most basic needs of its
citizens to the very lifeblood of the community's economic growth. In
both urban and rural areas across the U.S., water rights, allocation,
treatment, delivery, and supply issues are increasingly subject to
legislation and regulation. Frequently, measures are passed in reaction
to a crisis and without a comprehensive plan. As the focus on our water
resources increases, so does the need for equitable policy and
progressive water management practices.
The Irrigation Association® has developed Turf and Landscape Irrigation
Best Management Practices (BMPs) for policymakers and professionals who
must save and extend our water supply while protecting water quality.
Irrigation Best Practices
The five Turf and Landscape Irrigation Best Management Practices include:
Assure Overall Quality of the Irrigation System;
Distribution of Water;
Install the Irrigation System to Meet the Design Criteria;
Maintain the Irrigation System for Optimum Performance; and\
Manage the Irrigation System to Respond to the Changing
