1 MILLION GALLONS PER ACRE
That’s how much water fell in western NC during the worst “drought” year on record.
Yes, you read that right —
In 2007 – 2008, the year with the lowest rainfall amounts in recorded history in western NC, we received 1 million gallons of rain PER ACRE!!
So why did we even notice a so called “drought”?
Why are our ground water levels so low? Why are our springs, wells and creeks drying up?
One big reason is that we DRAIN our rainwater away so aggressively. We treat rain like a nuisance instead of like a gift and a treasure and a resource.
When we design land and city infra-structure to drain rainwater away as fast as possible (which is how we managed rainwater in most cities in the US) that rainwater becomes “stormwater”.
Stormwater carries pollution very swiftly from streets, parking lots, roof tops, fertilized lawns and the like into our urban streams. Large amounts of stormwater creates dangerous flash floods and severe pollution to the Swannanoa and French Broad River and the all the rivers they flow into all the way to the ocean. Remember: we all live downstream.
The LinkingWaters project is designed to demonstrate ways that regular residents in Asheville’s neighborhoods can reclaim that rain water and help create good, green jobs, encourage urban agriculture and protect our streams and rivers from damaging floods and pollution.
LinkingWaters 