Posts Tagged ‘RainWise’

Cistern Maintenance

August is the time to make sure your cistern is in good working order and ready for the fall rainy season!
RainWise has outline five steps you can take to clean out your cistern to prepare it for fall.

Steps 1 & 2

Steps 3 & 4

Step 5

Know the Parts of Your Cistern

You can also find the full maintenance guide on the RainWise website, also available in Spanish and Vietnamese: 700milliongallons.org/rainwise/maintenance

Rain Gardens Can Combat Pollution Caused by Stormwater Overflows

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Stay informed during times of heavy rain – It’s winter time in Seattle and as many of us know this (usually) means rain; lots of it. What some of us don’t know is that, in many areas of our city, it also means that our Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) system may overflow, causing polluted stormwater to pour into our streets and eventually our waterways.  Thankfully, rain gardens, as offered through Seattle’s RainWise program with support from our 12,000 Rain Gardens program are able to  absorb and filter stormwater. Rain gardens provide a beautiful and functional  way to reduce water pollution locally and regionally.

Click here to learn the current status of the CSO basin near you.  Click here to learn if you qualify for resources to get a free rain garden through RainWise.

*Please note that it may be unsafe to fish in areas impacted by a CSO overflow. Stay away from polluted water for 48 hours after an overflow occurs.

Join the Campaign!

NewMapWe are thrilled to announce that we have launched a new campaign map and registry that will show where current projects are located and provide a simple tool to register new ones. With this new map you will be able to not only see where rain gardens are located but also use the map to check out where the most recent or most popular gardens are located in your community. One of the most exciting aspects of our new map is the streamlined registration process so that we can capture all the good work being done out there. It has never been easier to register and add your garden to the 12,000 Rain Gardens movement. We have included a comment feature so you can ask a questions or provide input about any rain garden. Anyone can quickly pull up the map and add a rain garden to the map, comment on the status of a project or request a garden in your community. This map is part of a big push to get all Puget Sound rain gardens registered to capture our goal of 12,000 rain gardens by the end of 2016. If you are a municipality or landscape contractor with a list of rain gardens waiting to be registered, please contact us!

In other news, we recently launched our newest grant program to assist with funding rain garden installations. We partnered with RainWise and King County to create the RainWise Access Grant, which provides up to $500 for RainWise eligible homeowners and $1,000 for larger non-profit owners in the Lower Duwamish Watershed. We developed this program to make rain gardens accessible to all who want one. Until now, there were no resources to cover the up-front costs of an installation – costs that eventually get rebated through the City of Seattle’s RainWise program. The new RainWise Access Grant bridges the gap between the rebate amount and the actual cost of the project, which could result in a free rain garden for those who cannot afford the up-front costs of a rain garden.

If you want to learn more about the RainWise Access Grant here or email the 12,000 Rain Gardens’ Project Manager, Aaron Clark at ac@stewardshippartners.org

End of Summer Events

What a weekend! Not only did we educate people about 12,000 Rain Gardens at Tilth we also spent Sunday at King County’s #‎CHOMP‬! We loved sharing our work and signing people up to ‪#‎volunteer‬, and get involved with Salmon-Safe, Snoqualmie Stewardship and 12,000 Rain Gardens!

Talking 12,000 Rain Gardens at Tilth Harvest Fest!

Talking 12,000 Rain Gardens at Tilth Harvest Fest!

Looking to get out and about a few more times before we kick into Fall? Come see us at Seattle Summer Parkways / Sustainable Ballard Fest at the RainWise booth located at the Ballard Commons Park from 11 to 2 pm.  Stop on by!

New Rebate Fund Helps Homeowners With Rain Garden Costs

We are thrilled to announce that the Green Infrastructure Rebate Advance Fund (GIRAF) is now available to help Seattle home owners finance the up front costs of rain garden installation.

Lisa Stiffler of Sightline Daily writes, “While RainWise offers generous reimbursements—$4,600 on average for the installation of rain gardens and cisterns—the homeowner has to pay for the work upfront, then wait up to two months for the program to pay them back. It’s an expense that not everyone can shoulder. A new financial program called the Green Infrastructure Rebate Advance Fund (GIRAF) should remove that hurdle by bridging the payment gap. A separate access fund will also provide small grants to partially pay for projects near the Duwamish River that cost more than the city’s rebate.”

Read more about this new fund

GIRAFblogpost