By Pam Wetherill, HRRC Repair Education Coordinator
HRRC@WRRK–Empowering Homeowners!
Over 150 people joined HRRC on Tuesday, June 30th for a well-timed HouseMender University presentation entitled “Yard Drainage Options.” J. Meiring Borcherds, Watershed Coordinator at the Sustainable Environments Program of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, gave an hour-long presentation at the Cleveland Heights Senior Activity Center, where he described actions that homeowners can take to responsibly manage rain water in their yards. At the center of his talk were instructions for building “Rain Gardens”—attractive, landscaped areas planted with native plants that don’t mind our soggy, northeast Ohio weather. According to the Rain Garden Manual for Homeowners, rain gardens are “…built in depressions…[and] are designed to capture and filter storm water runoff from impervious surfaces around the home, such as rooftops and driveways. The Rain Garden Manual for Homeowners is available as a pdf file at the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District website, below.
Borcherds also provided the audience with an opportunity to ask questions and provided a number of resources homeowners can use to help them assess their situations and determine appropriate solutions. Those resources are listed here:
- Chagrin River Watershed Partners, Inc.
http://www.crwp.org/index.php/homeowners ; http://www.crwp.org/index.php/member-services/model-regulations ; - NEO Stormwater Training Council
http://www.neohiostormwater.com/ - Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD)
http://www.neorsd.org/rainworkingforyou.php - Center for Watershed Protection
http://www.cwp.org/2013-04-05-16-15-03/what-you-can-do - Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD)
http://www.cuyahogaswcd.org/programs/rain-gardens-native-plants
A pdf of Borcherd’s presentation is also available.
Contact information for the presenter, J. Meiring Borcherds, Program Coordinator
Cell: 216.244.8152
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email: mborcherds@ccbh.net