RiverLink’s WaterRICH Program Helps Improve Local Water Quality

The WaterRICH Program promotes good stewardship of our natural resources by managing stormwater runoff. The goal of the project is to improve water quality in the French Broad River watershed by keeping runoff out of streams.

The program teaches residents how to capture rainwater and utilize it for outdoor water needs, or allow it to soak into the ground through a landscape feature such as a rain garden. In turn, this can help reduce the use of potable water, relieve pressure on the existing stormwater system, and recharge groundwater.

This summer, RiverLink offered hands-on workshops in West Asheville, Black Mountain and Brevard on the design and installation of rain barrels and rain gardens. Both are cost-effective options for homeowners to capture and utilize runoff from their property before it reaches a storm drain, and ultimately our local waterways.

The rain barrel workshops resulted in the sale of 27 recycled barrels and conservation of 243,000 gallons of water (based on regional average rainfall, average roof size and barrel capacity) and were made possible by a grant from The River Network and donated barrels from Coca Cola.

Rain Gardens were also installed at Vance Elementary and Asheville Primary. Funded by by a generous grant from local non-profit West Asheville Garden Stroll, the gardens provide an interactive-hands on learning opportunity for the students, while also conserving rainwater and mitigating the effects of stormwater runoff.

Learn more about the program and learn how to build your own rain garden at riverlink.org/our-work/water-quality/waterrich/.

Prepared by RiverLink.