On June 10, we (along with Rutgers Cooperative Extension) held a Build-A-Barrel workshop that was targeted for a community along the Peters Brook in Somerville. The general premise behind the targeted community is that Rutgers (as well as us) are looking to quantify the effect of small best management practices--or BMPs-- (such as rain barrels and rain gardens) on stream flow. We're hoping that these BMPs will reduce the amount of water that reaches the Peters Brook, and in turn, will carry less pollutants to the waterway and reduce erosion due to high volume flows.
So we held the workshop, and about 35 people showed up, many from the targeted community, and 26 barrels were built. Nearly everyone that attended wanted at least one extra barrel, and many people walked by the park and wanted to join if we held another workshop. So, I would say that it was a success!
Here are some more photos from the evening (or visit our
photo gallery for the complete collection!):
More information about the stormwater project on our
Peters Brook page or you can read some of the press about this event on our
News page.We are planning additional Build-A-Barrel workshops to be held in each of the three Peters Brook communities (Bridgewater, Somerville, and Raritan). We are planning for August 2010. In the meantime, you can learn more about
rain barrels!
We (NJWSA and Rutgers Cooperative Extension) will be hosting three rain barrel workshops in the month of August! The popularity of the Somerville workshop in June sparked quite an interest, so we have expanded our Peters Brook project to include two additional neighborhoods (in addition to the initial neighborhood in Somerville around Walck Park): a neighborhood near Elizabeth Ave Park in Raritan, and a neighborhood just off of Foothill Road in Bridgewater.
On June 10, we (along with Rutgers Cooperative Extension) held a Build-A-Barrel workshop that was targeted for a community along the Peters Brook in Somerville. The general premise behind the targeted community is that Rutgers (as well as us) are looking to quantify the effect of small best management practices--or BMPs-- (such as rain barrels and rain gardens) on stream flow. We're hoping that these BMPs will reduce the amount of water that reaches the Peters Brook, and in turn, will carry less pollutants to the waterway and reduce erosion due to high volume flows.
So we held the workshop, and about 35 people showed up, many from the targeted community, and 26 barrels were built. Nearly everyone that attended wanted at least one extra barrel, and many people walked by the park and wanted to join if we held another workshop. So, I would say that it was a success!
(This is the Peters Brook)
