Water, Water, NOT Everywhere

Climate change and its repercussions on stormwater in our yards and streets affects us all. Some of us have had more expenses than others when it comes to tackling these problems and neighbors downstream from them have benefitted though they may not have shared in the expense. Perhaps we need to start thinking of equity in every issue that comes before us and learn how we might define and apply other community's solutions to our unique Takoma needs.

One possible best practice to learn from:

The recent Takoma Stormwater Solutions meeting on zoom featured a presentation by Julie Greenberg from Somerset, MD, an incorporated township within Chevy Chase. She and fellow citizens came up with the Somerset Stormwater Master Plan which includes a shared infrastructure plan (SIP). An excerpt from their executive summary follows.

"A foundation of the plan is the well‐documented survey by the residents describing which areas of the Town have the most stormwater issues. The survey was used to develop micro‐watershed drainage area maps to reveal the runoff problems. These block scale watershed plans target locations where residents responded to the survey. Each property is viewed as generating stormwater runoff that drains offsite and/or receiving runoff from upstream flows. These localized watersheds are used to determine the best locations for the construction of Low Impact Development installations to reduce stormwater impacts on specific properties, as well as neighboring properties. To further the education and empowerment of Somerset property owners, an online dashboard was created by RainplanTM. Rainplan is a technology company whose mission is to serve as an online stormwater marketplace to make it easier for property owners to understand their property’s drainage challenges, plan their property improvements, and access environmental incentive programs, qualified contractors, and more affordable financing plans." A link to their comprehensive report to the Somerset City Council can be found here. attended the Stormwater Solutions zoom webinar tat feathered.

A recording of the event can be found on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFuhrumCWG8