Innovative solutions for managing stormwater on residential properties are to be on display this weekend in the second round of open gardens in the ACT and surrounding region.
Supported and encouraged by the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate’s Healthy Waterways H2OK project, the gardens will be open this Sunday (28 October).
H2OK Project Officer, Lyndsey Day said five properties, including one rural residence, would open their doors and showcase successful ideas for utilising stormwater in their gardens and minimising contaminated run-off.
He said the residents, who had received grants totalling more than $60,000 from the Healthy Waterways project, had done a fantastic job of implementing imaginative and creative solutions.
“Each property demonstrates a range of ideas including rain gardens, mulching systems, downpipe disconnections, nature strip treatments and erosion control,” Mr Day said.
“The aim is for others to see these measures in place and develop and deliver similar approaches in their own gardens.
“It’s important that we are able to effectively manage our water, as well as reduce our contaminated water run-off from our streets, which is the biggest source of water pollution.”
He said this would help improve water quality in the ACT and the wider Murray-Darling Basin.
Mr Day said water management was particularly important at this time when many areas of Australia were dealing with extremely dry conditions and managing water use and runoff was an important contribution to keeping waterways healthy.
The open gardens event is presented through a partnership between the ACT Healthy Waterways project and Open Gardens Canberra.
Further information about the project is available at this PS News link.
