Project Blue Streams
Find your neighborhood stream.
How to Help the Streams
Rain Barrels Disconnect Downspouts Rain Gardens Plant A Tree
Small streams in Nashville are characterized by a series of problems, found in most city streams, called urban stream syndrome. The syndrome includes:
- Quick rises in stream water levels during storms and more frequent flooding. This is also called a flashy hydrograph.
- Elevated levels of nutrients and contaminants
- Altered channel morphology which means that the bank is eroding and/or depositing sediment more rapidly than expected
- Reduced biotic richness - not a lot of biological diversity is found in the stream. The species that still live in the urban stream are pollution tolerant and begin to dominate the stream ecosystem, Think of it as the stream equivalent of squirrels and pigeons.
Most of these impacts are linked to storm water run-off. That is, the water that flows down into catch basins in your neighborhood when it rains. That water flows into the nearest stream…rapidly and full of pollutants from the roof, yard and street. To solve the problem of storm water runoff we need to restore as much of the preexisting hydrologic system as possible. In other words, we need to increase the infiltration of rainwater into the ground. No, we don't need to raze our cities. But we do need to give the rainwater a place to sink into after it falls. Technically, this is considered reducing our effective impervious cover.
The really great news is that we can help our small streams all the while making our yards more beautiful, saving money, saving energy and providing our gardens with healthier water. Maybe your grand parents used cisterns, if so you'll be familiar with many of the ideas below that will improve our small streams. It is easy to get started. We have descriptions, links and photos below. Plus, we have frequent workshops for hands on learning.
Rain Barrels
What
Rain Barrels are used to harvest rain from the roof top. We recommend that the harvested water be used for outdoor purposes only. You might be surprised by the amount of water you collect: one inch of rain on 1,000 square feet of rooftop creates over 600 gallons of water.
Why
Using a rain barrel can save you some money, give your plants a water they will like more than tap water, and help to slow storm water runoff. You can also save energy used when the water is processed to drinking standards. It is crazy when you think about it - we use drinking quality water in our yards and toilets. Locations where water is scarcer already use gray water when drinking quality water is not necessary.
How
List of Supplies and Building instructions for Rain Barrels:
55 gallon barrel- $6.00 from a soda bottling company
1/2" Hose Bib spigot - $7.93 from Home Depot
Hose adapter ¾"mh x ½" mip (Watts stock # A-663)
Two lock nuts ½" ips - in plumbing section of Home Depot
caulk
Mesh Screen and screws
Drill with Forstner bit ¾"
Jigsaw, drill, 1" bit
- jig saw opening in barrel.
- drill opening for overflow valve (hose adapter)
- twist in hose adapter, do it a few time - try to get it flush with barrel
- secure with nut
- drill hole for spigot
- twist in spigot, do it a few time - try to get it flush with barrel
- secure with nut
- seal with caulk
- pilot screw holes in top of barrel for mesh cover
- cut piece of mesh to cover opening on top
- attach mesh to top of barrel with screws
To install place under downspout. Take a hack saw and cut gutter 12" above top of rain barrel. Attach an adapter either elbow shaped metal gutter piece or plastic articulated piece to direct water into barrel.
Tips: when the barrel is full direct water away from your house with a long plastic pipe available at home improvement stores. Also, drop a mosquito dunk in the barrel during the summer months to lessen mosquito problem. Elevating the barrel on a few cinder blocks will help water flow out of the barrel.
 
Rain Barrel Links
Installation instructions:
http://www.ne-design.net/rain-barrel-installation.html
http://www.nerainbarrel.com/Installation.html
http://www.stormwatercenter.net/Pollution_Prevention_Factsheets/rain_barrels.htm
Tips for using your rain barrel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_barrel
http://www.nerainbarrel.com/Installation.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums search rain barrel
|
55 gallon, food grade barrel (22” diameter, 39” tall) with over flow valve and spigot both compatible with garden hose connection. Top opening is a semi circle on the opposite side of the water outlet valves. Design can be changed with a special order.
*Delivery in the Nashville Metropolitan area only.
$40.00
|
|
Back to the top.
Disconnect Downspouts
What
Maybe you're not ready for a rain barrel. A simple yet effective way for property owners to keep the streams clean is by disconnecting their downspouts. In some older neighborhoods like Sylvan Park, gutter downspouts lead directly to the street where the rain water flows to the nearest catch basin and then to the nearest stream.
Examples of disconnected downspouts.
Why
Appropriately disconnecting downspouts benefits property owners as well as the environment. In our city neighborhoods, allowing rain water to naturally soak into the soil keeps it from entering our combined sewer system and decreases the frequency of Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) which dump chemical pollution and raw sewage into the Cumberland River. In most neighborhoods, slowing the flow of storm water into the small neighborhood streams by disconnecting downspouts keeps streams cleaner.
How
Find the place where the downspout is connected to the horizontal pipe that carries water to the street. It could be a clay pipe or PVC. Disconnect the gutter there. Redirect rooftop water into the garden with a gutter adapter and flexible pipe available at a home improvement store. You can also install an automatic downspout extension.
Links
http://www.rainguardusa.com/
http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=25270
Back to the top.
Rain Garden
What
A rain garden is a shallow, constructed depression that is planted with deep-rooted native plants & grasses. It is located to receive runoff from hard surfaces such as a roof via a downspout, a sidewalk and driveway. Rain gardens slow down the rush of water from these hard surfaces, holds the water for a short period of time and allows it to naturally infiltrate into the ground.
Rain garden
The Cumberland River Compact is thrilled to lead Nashville in an effort to build 300 rain gardens over the next 5 years. We will bring together our network of trusted engineers, landscape architects and nursery men to assist us in this effort. We are planning workshops, demonstration sites and more education through written publications. Check the events section of our website often for a listing of ways to become involved. Don't forget to send pictures of your rain garden for our photo gallery!
Why
A rain garden can be thought of as a personal water quality system because it filters the runoff from your roof and lawn and recharges the groundwater.
How
This is a wonderful do it yourself guide.
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/wm/dsfm/shore/documents/rgmanual.pdf
Back to the top.
Plant A Tree
What
Project Blue Streams will plant 10,000 trees in Nashville over the next 5 years. These trees will improve Nashville in so many ways: reduce storm water runoff, cool the city’s heat island, beautify our streets and neighborhoods. Be part of this effort: plant trees with Project Blue Streams or plant trees in your yard – let us know about it and we’ll add your trees to the count!
Why
Some of the intercepted water evaporates back into the atmosphere, and some soaks into the ground reducing the total amount of runoff that must be managed in urban areas. Trees also slow storm flow, reducing the volume of water that a containment facility must store. For example, in the Metropolitan Washington DC region, the existing 46 % tree canopy reduces the need for retention structures by 949 million cubic feet, valued at $4.7 billion per 20-year construction cycle (based on a $5/cubic foot construction cost).
Nashville’s impervious surfaces have increased by 20% over the past 2 decades in urban areas at a cost in excess of $100 billion nationally. Local governments are increasingly looking toward non-built stormwater management strategies, including trees to reduce the cost of constructing stormwater control infrastructure.
How
Choose the right tree. Plant it properly, maintain and protect it. These panting instructions come from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Department of Forestry.
How to Plant a Bare Root Seedling
1 - Take the seedling out of the plastic bag and remove all of the
newspaper or paper towels. Determining where to plant a tree is a decision
that should not be taken lightly. Many factors should be considered prior
to planting. When planning what type of tree to plant, remember to look up
and look down to determine where the tree will be located in relation to
overhead and underground utility lines.
2 - Select an area large enough to handle the tree at maturity. Dig the
hole wider than what seems necessary to help the roots of the tree spread
out easier, but no deeper than the roots. It is recommended that the
grass be removed in the immediate area to reduce competition for water
and nutrients.
3 - The tree should be planted at the same depth it was planted at the
nursery. Look for the mark left by the soil on the trunk. It is important
to make sure all of the roots point down. Begin filling with the soil that
came out of the hole. Do not add any other types of soil or fertilizer.
4 - Shovel the remaining soil into the hole. It should be firmly packed but
not tightly. Once the hole has been filled in, construct a water basin by
mounding soil around the tree several inches away from the trunk. This
will direct water toward the roots. Once the tree has been planted, water
the tree thoroughly.
5 - After watering the tree, mulch around the tree to help keep lawn
mowers and weed eaters away as well as help keep the moisture in the soil.
The mulch should be 2 inches deep and in an area 3 feet in diameter. The
mulch should be placed in a circular shape around the tree with none of the
mulch touching the trunk.
6 - A seedling tree needs an inch of water a week. During dry times it is
important to water your tree at least once a week, sometimes even twice.
Always water the tree slowly so the water has time to soak into the soil.
Get more tips from ReLeaf Tennessee!
Links
http://nashvilletreefoundation.org/
http://www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/forestry/default.asp#trees
http://www.nespower.com/tt_replace.aspxhttp://www.nespower.com/tt_replace.aspx
Back to the top.
|
