Grant overview

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.

May 2020: Sumner Village Project is Blooming!

More information is HERE.

March 2020: Volunteers at work

Sumner Village residents were responsible for watering the plants for six weeks after installation and for spreading mulch. They also hand weeded and coddled the new plants and installed deer fencing after it was obvious that the deer resistant plants were not!

October 2019: Installing the project

Project Design:

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

There are five 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.

French Drain which conveys the water from the dry creek to the dry well.

Native plants whose deep roots soak up water and prevent soil erosion.