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Rain Barrel Program Teaches Coastal Residents How to Reduce Stormwater Impacts by Christian Miller
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Coastal Alabama receives more than five feet of rain per year. In urban areas most of this water washes across hard, or impervious, surfaces, picking up and carrying pollutants into our waterways. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, stormwater runoff is the greatest threat to water quality in the United States; as more people continue to move to coastal areas, the amount of hard surfaces and the volume and velocity of stormwater continue to increase. Driveways, roofs, roads, and parking lots are examples of hard surfaces that keep rainwater from percolating into the ground to be taken up by plants or replenish groundwater resources. Instead of being absorbed, stormwater that hits these impervious surfaces runs off quickly, putting major stress on municipal stormwater infrastructure and natural wetland habitats. As stormwater flows across hard surfaces it picks up and transports trash and debris, as well as pollutants such as pathogens, nutrients,