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NYC's Curbside Garden Pilot Even More Successful Than Expected, DEP Reports
By
Lauren Evans
Published Mar 20, 2015
Modified Mar 20, 2015
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Mar 20, 2015
Modified Mar 20, 2015
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There is very little to celebrate when it comes to the environment—report after report indicates that we'll be burnt to a crisp or drowned or, more probably, starved to death before most millennials are old enough to regret their ironic meatloaf tattoos.
Amid the ruin, here is a faint bright spot for your Friday: A DEP study shows that the city's bioswale pilot program—curbside gardens that capture storm water runoff—has been even more successful than expected.
According to Capital, bioswales are meant to capture the first inch of rain across 10 percent over impermeable surfaces, including roads and rooftops. The swales employed in the pilot captured an inch of rain water over 14 percent of surfaces.
The $4 million project is currently being piloted in Bushwick, East New York and Edenwald, since all three locations rely on sewers that drain into just one pipe, making it easier to measure the swales' effects.
Wet weather tends to present a challenge to the city's aging sewer systems, and large quantities of rain sends gross runoff into the waterways, many of which are already filled with more than their share of pollutants and dead bodies. The bioswales are expected to ease that burden considerably.
The department intends to develop a citywide metric for measuring performance by January 2016.
Tagged
bioswales
climate change
environment
Lauren Evans
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