Urban farms and gardens are helping St. Louis absorb and filter stormwater, preventing it from overwhelming the city’s combined stormwater/sewer system and preventing pollution from reaching local rivers and creeks.
As Elizabeth Hewitt explains in Reasons to be Cheerful, “If the system is overloaded, wastewater either overflows — sending pollutants directly into the Mississippi River — or backs up, into basements or streets.” Now, a multi-decade plan is in the works to overhaul the city’s wastewater system and make the overall urban landscape more absorbent to prevent flooding — a plan that makes community members key participants in making the city more resilient.
The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is investing $120 million by 2034 on projects that include subsidies for landowners who use water collection methods on their property. “Projects range from bioretention basins — depressions filled with plants that gather water — to backyard rain barrels that collect precipitation and use it to irrigate native plant or vegetable gardens.”…