Water quality issues

Just read in today's News & Observer that the cities of Durham and Raleigh are arguing over who bares the cost of cleaning up Falls Lake. It's water quality is deteriorating due to nitrogen and phosphorus going into the lake. Durham does not benefit (receives no water) from the lake but some main tributaries flow through Durham County on their way to the lake.

When the state Division of Water Quality inserts additional rules later this year, the costs of the clean up will probably increase.

What does this have to do with rain gardens you might ask. Rain water that runs across all our properties eventually ends up flowing into a creek, river or lake. As the rain water flows, it picks up impurities (pollutants) such as lawn chemicals, animal wastes, agriculture chemicals and things like oil, gasoline, tire dust, etc. from our love of the automobile.

We can stop much of that run-off by putting a rain garden in our yard. Think many people doing one small thing that adds up to big benefits to our environment.

IT'S OFFICIAL

Our fine weatherman just announced that we are currently down by 8 inches of rain for the year. That's quite a bit if you remember that one inch of rain moistens the ground to a depth of about 3 inches. Mmmm. 8 X 3 = 24 inches or 2 feet down that moisture is lacking.

But the flip side is that there was no storm water run-off from those lacking 8 inches going into streams and rivers and reservoirs that hold our source for drinking water.

I did some recent research on water quality and storm water control because I will be teaching a rain garden seminar the 17th of October at the King's Daughters Inn in Durham, North Carolina. I like to help folks understand the reason we need those rain gardens.

Here are some facts that came up:

• The Gulf of Mexico has a 9000 square mile 'dead zone' with low oxygen that kills fish and other sea life. The watersheds surrounding the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers all empty into the Gulf. The pollution is attributed to both agriculture (chemicals and animal waste) and urban sources (oil, chemicals, topsoil, trash). So if you keep your rain water and filter it down through your garden, you help reduce the pollution. You're part of the solution.

Sorry, didn't mean to make that rhyme.

• The water quality along the much of the Pacific Coast (US) is a Grade B.

Solutions listed were green roofs, rain gardens, and conservation efforts such as clean-ups. We organize a group every year to clean the creek across the street from us in the park. Every year there is more trash to remove and we spend the better part of a day hauling it out of the creek and piling it up to be picked up and disposed of by the City. The beauty of that rain garden though, is that once it's in, it pretty much takes care of itself except for pulling the occasional weed.

Rain garden's appearance with high temps and no rain

We've spent the last several weeks watching storm clouds from far off. They dumped their load far from Durham and we are now 7 inches down for the year. This picture shows you that if you choose your plants carefully, you can still have an attractive garden, even with temperatures in the 90's and no rain in weeks.