Gardening for Your Watershed – October 2005
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This month’s issue covers two topics:

* Watershed-Friendly Gardening Program Set to Expand
* Stormwater Satellite Conference on October 11

Topics about specific gardening practices will return in the spring.

Watershed-Friendly Gardening Program Set to Expand
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This summer, Whatcom County signed a grant agreement with the state Department of Ecology to expand the existing Lake-Friendly Gardening program. Over the next three years, new activities will include:

• Demonstration landscape at Bloedel-Donovan Park
• Video that explains and demonstrates watershed-friendly gardening techniques
• Training (and possibly certification) of landscapers, retailers, and realtors

There will also be an expansion of the current Lake-Friendly Gardening Kit, which will be mailed to all residents of the Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish watersheds.

We will be looking for volunteers to help with plantings at Bloedel-Donovan next spring. If you’re interested, please contact Scarlet Tang at 676-6876 or stang@co.whatcom.wa.us.

Stormwater Satellite Conference on October 11
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Join other Whatcom County residents who care about water quality at the October 11 satellite conference, Stormwater Management from a Watershed Perspective. The local broadcast will be hosted from 9:00 – 11:30 a.m. by WSU Extension – Whatcom County, at 1000 N. Forest St, Suite 210, Bellingham.

Every year, billions of gallons of untreated stormwater flow into streams and rivers across the nation. The Environmental Protection Agency calls it the “number one water quality problem.”

The broadcast will showcase three communities hard at work in solving their stormwater problems. At the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains on the Watauga River around Boone, North Carolina, constructed wetlands and restored streamside riparian vegetation slows and filters stormwater runoff. Thirty-three villages, townships, and suburban cities near Cleveland collaborated on stormwater strategies, including low impact development techniques, to quell the rush of polluted water to Lake Erie. Portland, Oregon involves its citizens through self-guided biking tours and neighborhood walks demonstrating low impact development techniques.

The final segment of the workshop is an interactive panel of national experts discussing the strategies shown in the case studies, as well as other approaches that may be used by municipalities.

To reserve a spot at the broadcast or for more information, contact Scarlet Tang at 676-6876 or stang@co.whatcom.wa.us.

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For more watershed-friendly gardening tips, visit http://lakewhatcom.wsu.edu/gardenkit.

This newsletter is produced by Whatcom County Water Resources. To subscribe or unsubscribe, or to make comments and suggestions, at 676-6876 or stang@co.whatcom.wa.us. Archives are available at http://lakewhatcom.wsu.edu/gardenkit/newsletter.htm.