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For Immediate Release Sent January 7, 2002
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VIDEO DEMONSTRATES NEW WAYS TO AVOID POLLUTING WATERSHED
"Doing Water Right," a 24-minute videotape demonstrating the environmental benefits of "blue-green technologies," is now available from the Great Swamp Watershed Association in Madison, NJ.
Blue-green technologies, according to Melissa Paly, producer-director of the tape, are environmentally friendly ways to handle stormwater runoff, which is a principal contributor to water pollution, both in the Great Swamp watershed and across the country.
The conventional way of dealing with stormwater, she points out, is to channel it as quickly as possible, via gutters and culverts, to nearby waterways or wetlands. When this method is applied in developed areas, it carries large amounts of chemicals from roads and lawns into local streams."On the other hand," says Paly, "blue-green technologies apply alternative measures – roof gardens, porous pavements, small holding pools and the like – to allow stormwater to return to the water table, or to evaporate, or to nourish local plants, instead of gathering up pollutants and carrying them into streams." Such alternatives are also often less expensive than traditional methods, she emphasizes.
"Doing Water Right" examines six applications of blue-green technology: a roof garden (or vegetated roof cover) in Philadelphia; bioretention basins in a Maryland subdivision; a porous-asphalt parking lot in Philadelphia; an expanded detention basin (or constructed wetland) at a Delaware mall; a transformed sump (or holding area) on Long Island; and a reconstructed streambed in Massachusetts.
The purpose of the tape, according to Julia M. Somers, the Great Swamp Watershed Association’s executive director, is to introduce blue-green techniques locally both to developers and to residents who are building on, or landscaping, property in the Great Swamp watershed. A companion handbook, which will contain detailed engineering and design requirements, is also being prepared.
"It’s only by maintaining water quality in the watershed’s streams that the purity of the Swamp itself can be preserved," she says. "If pollutants in the streams that feed Great Swamp continue to increase as a result of increasing development, the remarkable abundance of plant and animal life in the National Wildlife Refuge and other public lands will soon diminish. Applications of blue-green technologies can keep that from happening."
"Doing Water Right" was produced by Cross-Current Productions of Kittery, Maine. Funding for both the video and handbook were provided by the Schumann Fund for New Jersey; the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; the Fanny and Svante Knistrom Foundation; the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation; and the Fund for New Jersey.
The Watershed Association plans to distribute copies of the tape to local government officials, developers, and other environmental organizations, and to loan it at no charge to interested residents. The video may also be purchased for $13.00, which includes mailing costs. To obtain a copy, call the Watershed Association at 973.966.1900, or send an e-mail to everything@greatswamp.org. The Association’s
offices are at 36 Main Street, Madison, NJ, 07940. Great Swamp Watershed Association was created to protect the Great Swamp watershed basin. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary as a non-profit organization, the Watershed Association relies solely on membership and contributions to protect the continued health of our watershed’s area. If you’re not already a member, become one today. For more information, call (973) 966-1900, or visit their website at www.greatswamp.org#####