An Active Storm Smart Community

A Storm Smart property helps slow, spread, and sink in water where it lands. These properties come in all shapes and sizes and each property has a unique role to play in the landscape. Helping your property become Storm Smart is one of the many ways you can act as a steward of your property and of the whole Mad River Valley. The projects highlighted here explore some common (and not-so-common) approaches to being a good watershed steward!

Driveway Downsize

The parking area was larger than the homeowners needed. Water, running off of the hill behind the house and off of the roof, led to erosion on the driveway and added to the total sediment reaching a nearby culvert.

The driveway size was reduced and planted with native species. Plants like Joe Pye Weed and Wild Leek will help to absorb rain and runoff while providing habitat to pollinators and other wildlife.
 
The new driveway is half the size and has a well-vegetated buffer separating it from the nearby drainage ditch. A new rain garden captures runoff from the roof before it can cause erosion on the driveway.

A Resilient and Wild Watershed

An Infiltration Trench was installed at the base of the hill along the edge of the driveway. It acts like container during big storms, holding in water, and letting it slowly filter into the ground.

Permeable Pavers allow parking areas to infiltrate water into the ground, and in this case also allow grass to grow.

​Native Plants have co-evolved with native wildlife and provide better habitat for a greater variety of species. Native plants can be used in low mow zones, rain gardens, drip lines, stream buffers, and forests.

Driveway Drywells

Impermeable surfaces, like the roof and driveway, are not able to absorb water. This leads to greater concentrations of water that can increase rates of erosion.

The surface of the driveway was compacted and did not allow water to sink in. A series of Drywells were used to allow runoff to pass into deeper, more permeable layers below.

​Each of the drywells on this property were installed by a single person using a tractor and hand tools in just one afternoon. Careful consideration of the site and an understanding of the soils being worked with allowed the digging to happen with relative ease.

Check Dams on the Mad River Path

The Mad River Path winds its way through the Valley and provides vital connections in our community.

Maintenance and thoughtful construction are big parts of maintaining the Path. These check-dams, along a section of the path in Warren, help reduce erosion by giving the water a chance to slow down and gather in a series of shallow pools.

The check-dams were built with materials found on site by one industrious volunteer - thanks Richard!