Ballard is the test market for Seattle’s new RainWise incentive program, which pays homeowner who live in certain areas of the neighborhood to create rain gardens on their property.
On November 6th, see how Ballardites are taking advantage of the program and learn how to do the same. The Ballard RainWise Roadshow will offer informative displays and a self-guided walking tour of local projects that are preventing polluted runoff from overflowing into Salmon Bay.
Seattle Public Utilities created this video for the Roadshow:
Ballard RainWise Roadshow from Edgar Riebe on Vimeo.
Susan Stoltzfus from Seattle Public Utilities sent us this:
During heavy rains, pipes that carry combined stormwater and sewage overflow into the local waterway – a combined sewer overflow (CSO). Currently about two million gallons of combined stormwater and wastewater overflow into Salmon Bay every year.
But we can reduce the amount of stormwater entering the sewer system and reduce CSOs by building rain gardens, cisterns, and green alleys. The walking tour includes stops at roadside raingardens, a green alley test site, and homes where residents have already received rebates that cover most of the cost of building a rain garden or installing a cistern on their own property.
The Ballard RainWise Roadshow will be held on November 6th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sunset Hill Community Club (3003 NW 66th St). Feel free to drop in anytime. See the flyer here (.pdf).
