Spring Showers Bring Spring Runoff--Calculate Yours!

With the spring showers we have been having recently, it is a good time to think about stormwater runoff. Runoff isn't generally an issue in natural ecosystems, but becomes a problem in our human-dominated urban and suburban systems where permeable surfaces have been replaced with impermeable surfaces such as driveways and buildings. In this situation, runoff contributes to water pollution in our streams, as it tends to have higher levels of nutrients, sediment, and contaminants.

New from the James River Association is a runoff calculator. You plug in information about your property (acreage, size of your home, amount of asphalt/concrete, amount of lawn, amount of natural area, etc.) and the system tells you how much runoff is produced from your land. It also compares the figure to the average and to more desirable levels, and offers suggestions for reducing runoff on your property. Many of our Master Naturalists are involved in teaching about techniques for managing runoff, such as rain barrels and rain gardens.
For more information on Virginia's stormwater management program, visit http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil_and_water/stormwat.shtml. To learn more about how to build a rain garden, check out this very in-depth publication from the Virginia Department of Forestry.