Stormwater Management for Sumner Village

Pictures of the finished project and more information are HERE.

In January 2019, LFWA was awarded a $20,000 grant from the Montgomery County Department of Environment Protection to tackle the stormwater run-off problem at Sumner Village, a condominium community in Bethesda. The green areas by tennis court two had little or no vegetation and turned to a sea of mud when it rained. In addition, the creek adjacent to the area were experiencing considerable erosion due to rain water run-off. The fence has been moved several times in the past years because the bank has collapsed.

The project will address the flow of water from up-hill properties with green techniques and the area will be planted with native shrubs and perennials. It will include a dry creek to slow and spread the run-off, a dry well to capture the water and let it soak in and large beds of native plants including button bush, Joe pye, sneezeweed, switch grass and cinnamon ferns.

PROJECT DESIGN:

The project uses all green techniques (environmental site design) to manage the stormwater run-off.

There are three major components:

Dry Creek ending in a planted bed: The rocky dry creek will slow the rain water run-off down and spread it out. Water making its way to the bottom will be captured by a bed of native plants.

Dry Well to collect rain water. A french drain running under the dry creek will direct water to the dry well.

Berm running parallel to the creek will direct the run-off into the woods.

The grant is funded by the Montgomery County Water Quality Protection Fund and administered by the Chesapeake Bay Trust.