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Justin Kenney, District Manager Web site: www.vacd.org/winooski The Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District serves Vermont's Winooski River Watershed, Browns River, and portions of Lake Champlain’s sub-watersheds, including all the land and resources within Chittenden and Washington counties and three towns in Orange County. Below are examples of Winooski NRCD projects. Visit www.vacd.org/winooski for a complete overview of the District, detailed information about all of our projects, and a listing of upcoming events. Over the past several years, the Winooski NRCD has undertaken numerous Low Impact Development (LID) projects as part of our Urban Conservation Program. What is Low Impact Development? LID is a sustainable landscaping approach that can be used to replicate or restore natural hydrological processes. Examples of LID practices include rain gardens, rain barrels, permeable pavement, green roofs, and bioswales. LID techniques reduce the volume of stormwater runoff and hence improve the water quality of our local waterways. We have implemented rain barrel painting projects in eight communities, working with nine local schools. The Winooski NRCD supplies rain barrels to schools and works with teachers and their students to paint the barrels and create an educational brochure for rain barrel recipients. We then advertise and hold a "rain barrel pick-up day" through which the painted rain barrels are distributed to residents for a nominal fee. During the summer of 2009 we worked with twelve local artists to paint rain barrels with designs inspired by "The Lake, the Land, and the People of the Champlain Valley" in honor of the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain's arrival on Lake Champlain. These barrels were then displayed and auctioned off at an art festival on Burlington's waterfront. The Winooski NRCD and our partners have also encouraged the installation of rain gardens to address residential storm water management. In 2008 we developed the Vermont Rain Garden Manual, a step-by-step guide to designing and installing a rain garden. In partnership with University of Vermont Extension, we've provided free workshops and technical support for the past two summers as part of the Annual Rooftop to River Rain Garden Contest. We also created an LID Atlas and Map for Vermont, which is part of the larger National LID Atlas created by the National Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) Network. The Vermont LID Atlas & Map will raise awareness of LID projects as a solution to residential stormwater management, reinforce the link between LID projects and water quality, and provide residents with successful examples of local LID projects. More information on all of these projects can be found at: |
