Document text
MONDAY February 23, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 18, 2003 Drainage rules will get tighter By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Times have changed since cities quickly shunted water run-off through storm drain systems and into creeks without considering the environmental consequences. During a Monday night open house in Ashland, residents from throughout the Bear Creek Watershed learned about steps local communities are taking to address stormwater pollution in response to tightening Clean Water Act regulations. "When they first started doing stormwater management, the idea was to get it to the creek as fast as you can before it floods," said Craig Harper, water resources program manager for the Rogue Valley Council of Governments. Now people are more aware that stormwater carries sediment, oil, grease, bacteria, viruses, pesticides and other pollutants, according to Greg Stabach, a hydrologist with RVCOG. In addition, concentrated stormwater run-off pouring into creeks can actually increase the risk of flooding by causing creek levels to spike, rather than rising and falling more gradually as they do when rainfall filters through vegetation and soil, he said. Cities hope to use lessons from nature to slow and filter run-off. Rather than funneling parking lot or subdivision run-off into storm drains, the water can be directed to vegetated strips known as detention swales, or into ponds or wetlands, Harper said. Those changes are not only aesthetically pleasing, but can benefit people's pocketbooks. In an Ashland subdivision, houses with a view of an adjacent cattail-filled wetland are selling for thousands of dollars more than homes on the other side of the street, he said. Common in Europe and growing in popularity in Portland, roof-top lawns can intercept rainfall. Homeowners also can direct their downspouts into planters or into rain barrels for irrigation water storage, according to Harper. Although new stormwater control programs do not have to be fully implemented until 2008, the City of Ashland already has taken steps to improve conditions. The city is mapping its storm drain system as the first step in detecting illicit discharges into streams, according to City Project Manager and City Surveyor Jim Olson, who represents the city on the Stormwater Advisory Team representing Bear Creek Watershed communities from Ashland to Central Point. The city is working with developers to create treatment ponds, swales and wetlands, as well as crafting a riparian zone protection ordinance and considering implementation of its own controls on construction to limit erosion and sedimentation into stormdrains, Olson said. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality currently requires erosion and sedimentation controls on developments of one acre or more, but lacks sufficient staff to inspect sites unless the agency receives a complaint, he noted. Before disconnecting drainspouts, residents should contact the Ashland Public Works Department to make sure their plan to capture the rainwater is sufficient, according to Olson. Harper said it will take the communities working together, attacking the problem on multiple fronts, to make a difference. "No one thing is that bad, but all those little things add up to a bad result," he said. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: A new improved archive search is coming! Look for it in mid-February! .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams