Wednesday, Aug. 23, 4 p.m.—RUTLAND—To commemorate Vermont Clean Water Week, Rutland is showcasing its new Green Stormwater Infrastructure Bicycle Tour Map. On Aug. 23 from 4-6 p.m., the tour will kick off with a visit to four of the 22 Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) sites in the city. GSI is the use of rain gardens, infiltration systems, urban tree plantings and other practices designed to manage stormwater and protect local water quality.
The kick off tour starts at Giorgetti Park, 2 Oak St. Extension (next to Pine Hill Park) with Vermont DEC Watershed Coordinator Ethan Swift who will talk about the newly installed bioretention basin at the park.
The next stop is the Northwest Primary School at 80 Pierpoint Ave. with Nanci McGuire, Manager of Rutland Natural Resource Conservation District, who will explain the rain garden and other stormwater practices installed at the school.
Then it’s on to 33 Crescent Street, where one of the most ideal species for urban settings —red oak — can be found. City forester and arborist Dave Schneider will discuss the connection between trees and stormwater.
The tour concludes with a visit to Rotary Park off North Main Street where Bob Peterson, Parks Director of the Rutland Rec and Parks Dept., will talk about the infiltration trench installed there in 2015 and future GSI projects in the city.
“The city has been a great partner to work with,” said Nanci McGuire, Rutland Natural Resource District manager. “We’ve been working together on GSI since 2012 and we’re just getting started. Next on our list are projects at Rutland High School/Stafford Technical Center and on a vacant lot at Easterly Avenue in the Moon and Tenney Brook watersheds.”
Bring a bike and join the tour. Copies of the Bicycle Tour Map will be available to participants.
“This bike tour is exciting because it showcases the ground-level work coming out of water quality initiatives,” said Ed Bove, Rutland Regional Planning Commission executive director. “It will be fun riding through the community, checking out the sites, and learning about how collaboration between regional experts, Rutland City, and state officials improves our local water quality.”
Rain date for the kick off event is Aug. 24 — same time and starting place. For more information, call 802-775-0871 ext. 207.
