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PRINCIPLE 8: REDUCE STORMWATER RUNOFF


Keep water in the landscape – don’t let it leave your yard

  • Use rain gardens, swales, and berms to catch and filter stormwater runoff.
  • Create swales or terracing to catch, hold and filter stormwater.
  • Use porous surfaces for walkways, patios, and driveways to allow water to percolate back into the ground.
  • Direct downspouts and gutters into landscaped areas or pervious surfaces.
  • Plant groundcovers in erosion prone areas.
  • Direct irrigation to plants, not streets or sidewalks.
  • Install a cistern, rain barrel or other water harvesting device (if permitted by HOA) with proper mosquito prevention techniques in place.
  • Clean up pollutants such as pet waste and car oils and blow grass clippings back onto the lawn so that they do not end up in storm drains.
  • Do not direct reclaimed or harvested irrigation to edible gardens.