Mary Beth Sutton, executive director of mywaterways.org, gave a presentation at the Lookout Mountain, Ga., town hall on Saturday to bring the RainSmart Yards “Battle of the Mountains” to the attention of the residents.
She pointed out that water that falls to the earth soaks into the soil, evaporates, and contributes to the natural water cycle. But infrastructure like roads, houses, buildings, lawns and parking lots disrupts this cycle, picking up pollutants that flow directly into creeks, streams, and rivers.
Residents were encouraged to save this water by redirecting downspouts into their yards and gardens. Flower and shrubbery beds along driveways can also create buffer zones to absorb stormwater. For wet spots, add native plants to absorb excess water.
Ms. Sutton stressed that native plants are recommended for every yard as they have deeper root systems than lawns and non-native plants and thus retain the water locally. The combination of saved stormwater and native plants creates a healthy habitat for wildlife, especially pollinators.
For a complete list of actions that homeowners can do to create a creek-friendly habitat in their yard, see https://mywaterways.org/rainsmartyards/.
Ms. Sutton encouraged residents to take up the challenge of the “Battle of the Mountains,” where residents from Signal and Lookout can compete to see which mountain is most invested in improving water quality. To take the survey and have a yard visit by a mywaterways.org staff member go to: https://mywaterways.org/rainsmartyards-survey/ or Google, RainSmart Yards Survey 2023. This information will not be shared with anyone but the WaterWays team and certified RainSmart Yards surveyors. In order to receive an award, you must have your yard surveyed in person. Contact rosy@mywaterways.org with any questions.
Lookout Mountain, Tennessee and Georgia, Bee City USA, plus Lookout Mountain Beautiful Garden Club and the Garden Club of Lookout Mountain have formed a collaboration of interested citizens to promote this challenge with the most “creek-friendly yard” awards.
Ann Brown, brownw01@yahoo.com