Curbside Gardens to Allow Rainwater to Percolate

choi

Matt Flegenheimer, Lining Urban Streets With Gardens to Soak up What the Clouds Drop. Sites run $20,000 to $25,000 each. Officials say that’s better than the cost for storage tank. New York Times, Nov 8, 2014.
www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/nyreg ... m-water-runoff.html

Quote:

"The gardens appeared suddenly * * * In what officials have billed as one of the most ambitious programs of its kind in the United States, New York City has, with little fanfare, embarked on a roughly 20-year, $2.4 billion project intended to protect local waterways, relying in large measure on 'curbside gardens' [along sidewalks] that capture and retain storm-water runoff.

"Begun as a pilot program under Mayor Michael R Bloomberg — about 250 of the gardens are already in the ground — the initiative is set for a major expansion * * * The goal, according to the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, is to soften the 'impervious urban landscape' of asphalt and concrete and absorb rainfall that might otherwise funnel into the combined sewer system. (During heavy rain, storm water can exceed the capacity of the city treatment plants. Overflows are discharged into local waterways to avoid flooding the plants, which can harm water quality.)  Any aesthetic benefits from the gardens are effectively seen as a bonus

"The gardens are typically built into sidewalks, with curb cuts that let storm water flow among the shrub roses and black-eyed Susans.

"Robert G Traver, a professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at Villanova University, said test sites assembled at the university had performed better than expected. 'We had sites designed to get rid of an inch, get rid of three or four inches' of water, Dr Traver said.  Once completed, the administration said, New York City’s gardens are expected to capture more than 200 million gallons of storm water each year

"The gardens cost roughly $20,000 to $25,000 each. City officials have cast them as an essential expense, particularly given the high cost of a potential alternative for storing excess water.

My comment: There is no need to read the rest as for text. However, the report online has four photos (print has five, the addition being a black woman gesturing); these photos show these gardens are just of ordinary sizes we see in most American cities and towns.