Stormwater Management

Join us, as we tour some of the newest stormwater management projects in Omaha and re-visit established green infrastructure projects. Six of this year’s tour stops are new to the tour! Criteria for tour stop selection included ensuring a variety of consultants, various project scales, various management practices, and availability of tour guides. Tour stops will include:

Rainwater harvesting treats rainwater as a resource to be collected rather than a waste product to be conveyed away as quickly as possible. Collected rainwater can be diverted to planted areas such as rain gardens for infiltration or temporarily held in a storage device like a rain barrel or cistern for future use.

Have you ever wondered about the water quality in your favorite lake?  Or perhaps you’ve planned a day at the lake only to see a sign that says “Health Alert” and not known what that meant. 

Rivers and streams are complex. They are filled with a dizzying array of life, from relatively simple bacteria and algae to more complex forms such as plants, insects, and fish. When everything is working well, rivers provide many benefits to society, including fishing and other recreation opportunities, drinking water, irrigation, and transportation. However, there are also many ways that people can disrupt the natural functioning of rivers. For example, it may be necessary for cities to build systems that rapidly remove rain water to prevent flooding damage to homes and businesses.

Rain gardens are an aesthetic feature of your residential landscape that also has a hydrologic function. Hydrologic means related to water. A properly designed and constructed rain garden for a residential landscape (no underground drainage system) is designed like a bathtub to hold water and let it slowly seep into the soil beneath the garden. This water is available for plant growth, and this water is removed from runoff that leaves your yard and does not contribute to downstream flooding or pollution.  How well does your rain garden serve its hydrologic function?

Storm drains in some towns have markers that read “No dumping. Drains to waterways”.  These markers are part of the public education communities are doing to help protect surface water from urban run-off pollution. Most residential areas are designed for rainwater to flow into the street and then into a storm drain. From there, it flows almost directly to a stream, river or lake, taking along what it picks up from surfaces it flows across.

Freezing temperatures are ending the growing season and its time to do yard and garden cleanup to help reduce overwintering diseases and insects; and to reduce the amount of plant debris washed into streams, lakes, and ponds where they contribute to water pollution.

As we move into winter, store lawn and garden pesticides correctly and securely. Read and follow the label for safety and to help prevent accidental poisoning or spills that could contaminate storage areas or water resources.

When it rains, do you know where rainwater from your property goes? Does it spread out and soak into the lawn or landscape beds to recharge soil moisture and benefit plants; or does it run off into the street and down a storm drain where it often transports pollutants to surface water?

Flood-soaked grain or hay is almost certain to be contaminated, making it unfit for use as food or feed.  This summary describes regulatory considerations and recommended actions for management of agricultural grains and forages deemed unusable for food or feed following flooding.

Join us on the 11th annual Omaha Green Infrastructure Tour! This year, we invite you to join us for a Maintenance and Management tour.  We will re-visit some of our most interesting tour stops from the past decade and explore the good, bad and ugly of maintaining and managing green infrastructure. Register at go.unl.edu/OmahaGreenInfrastructureTour

When planning gardens, people may think about pollinators and select plants to benefit them. Another trend is using rain gardens to catch and hold rainwater. Water and pollinator conservation are two goals achieved with rain gardens. Rain gardens reduce irrigation needs and can decrease the amount of rainwater running off of a property and carrying pollutants to surface water. Rainwater is a valuable resource. Consider collecting some of it with a rain garden that is filled with plants to benefit pollinators.