DCWF

Water Wise Program – Rain Barrels

Deep Creek Watershed Foundation Rain Barrel Project

This program is consistent with Deep Creek Watershed Plan Goal 6: Prevent erosion and sedimentation to the greatest extent possible to protect water resources from increased sediment loading and associated water quality problems, and its Objective 3: Revise, streamline, and incentivize lake shoreline protection measures and permitting.

According to the Plan: The primary sources of sediment in the watershed, in no particular order, are:

  • Stormwater runoff from cultivated farmland
  • Stormwater runoff from developed land
  • Stormwater runoff from forested land
  • Stream bank erosion
  • Lake shoreline erosion from wind and boat wakes.”

The Watershed (Plan) Administrator and staff in the University of Maryland’s Extension services have examined and prioritized this issue as a significant and reachable goal/objective. Indeed, the University of MD Extension service has been running programs and is already maintaining a website regarding homeowner stormwater practices. In addition, the Extension service has on its staff a great team of watershed specialists who have led and will continue to lead educational programs about
stormwater management.

We, along with the Garrett College’s Continuing Education & Workforce Department, and the Garrett County Government, sponsor the University of Maryland Extension Service’s public presentations on managing stormwater runoff.  The problem is especially severe when rainwater runs over hard surfaces, such as driveways and rooftops, picking up sediment, chemicals, debris and toxins that are carried into local streams.  

The Extension Service’s presentations cover the use of rain barrels and cisterns, rain gardens, conservation landscaping and riparian buffer planting, among other ways to ameliorate runoff and prevent erosion. These sessions are presented by Ashley Bodkins, who also is an advisor to the Deep Creek Watershed Foundation. 

To date this project has distributed over one hundred rain barrels to reduce the impacts from rooftop runoff with financial help from the Community Trust Foundation.

This project partially fulfills Goal 6 of the Watershed Management Plan.