The new storm sewer tax Lexington property owners will have to pay is one that many communities around the country have had in place for years. That source of revenue has allowed them to keep their storm sewer systems in much better repair.
Other cities, like Lexington, are playing catch-up. But one silver lining in this dark cloud is that Lexington doesn't have to reinvent the wheel. We can copy techniques from successful storm-water management projects in Chicago, Portland, and elsewhere.
For too many years the way to deal with storm-water runoff was to pipe it off of one's property and let somebody else, downhill or downstream, deal with the flooding it creates and the pollution (from oil and other car drippings, animal waste, lawn fertilizers, etc.) it carries.
Civil engineers and landscape architects finally realized what those downhill and stream property owners knew: this approach created problems elsewhere, spawned lawsuits, and played havoc with watershed management. This realization led to a more cost-effective approach that's better for the environment: deal with storm-water on site.
"We have a history of fairly traditional design of commercial properties where you slap down asphalt, concrete, roofs, that kind of thing and you just take up a lot of the opportunity for water to be absorbed more naturally," noted city Environmental Quality Commissioner Cheryl Taylor. "There are a lot of things that an architect or designer can do to manage that water much more effectively - - putting in more islands, more green spaces and pervious pavement where appropriate."
Some of the most effective ways to manage runoff are known as Low Impact Design (LID), or sustainable design, strategies.
LIDs include rain gardens, bioswales, green roofs, detention ponds, porous concrete and asphalt and permeable pavers for sidewalks and parking lots, cisterns, and rain barrels. All of these LID techniques have been proven to reduce or delay the rate of runoff and/or reducing the amount of measurable pollution (bacteria, heavy metals, phosphorus, etc) it carries. Lexington already has some of these LIDs, including rain gardens.
Property owners who incorporate these strategies would then apply to the city for an inspection to verify that standards have been met and once approved, receive a credit.
The Arboretum's Visitor Center has one, installed by local Boy Scout Daniel Shaw as his Eagle Scout project. EcoGro installed the rain gardens at the Good Food Coop and alongside Southland Drive, in front of Oleika Temple. Lexington's first rain garden on commercial property was installed at the Coca Cola Bottling Plant on Leestown Road.
The native perennial plants in rain gardens soak up the runoff, allowing it to infiltrate slowly. As the water moves through the plants' roots and the soil, pollutants are removed. Rain gardens are low maintenance and the choice of beautiful native plants is vast. Every home or business could have one. They're great projects for schools to install because they present so many learning opportunities for students.
To learn more about rain gardens and the 2,010 Rain Gardens by 2010 initiative see: