The last time the United States Geological Survey (USGS) caught my attention it was using US tax dollars to fund a new E-Journal with articles such as a French sustainability study addressing the core ecological contradictions of the capitalist system. Anyone interested should start with my Prior Post: New E-Journal for the details. The USGS came up again in a City of Madison press release yesterday announcing that Madison Receives $100,000 in Native Plants/Grasses for Raingarden development.
“Mayor Dave Cieslewicz today announced the city is receiving $100,000 from the Graham-Martin Foundation for the development of raingardens to reduce polluted runoff into local lakes and streams. Cieslewicz made the announcement at the newly completed raingarden at Warner Park.This is good news in the sense that environmental measures using local methods to correct local problems are generally worthy of support. My concerns with the environmental movement are organizations such as 1000 Friends of Wisconsin and The Sierra Club that believe there are planetary wide global pathologies of human creation requiring fundamental changes in human behavior. If site specific planning can build natural barriers to mitigate the adverse effects of excessive runoff into Madison’s lakes, then local problem areas for water drainage should be identified and reasonable steps taken to modify the locations.
The announcement comes as new evidence conclusively shows that raingardens are highly effective in reducing polluted runoff. According to a U.S. Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.) report released this week on two other Madison raingardens, runoff absorption was up to eleven times higher in raingardens than in conventional turf lawns.
The raingarden at Warner Park is technically known as a "bio-retention system". Unlike most raingardens, which capture relatively clean runoff from roofs, bio-retention systems capture polluted runoff from surfaces such as parking lots. Runoff from these surfaces can contain heavy concentrations of fuel, oil and heavy metals.”
My fear is that the Cieslewicz administration has repeatedly demonstrated a love for the mandatory solution and the prohibitionist approach to problems. If the environmental extremist side of Dave Cieslewicz gets excited about this approach to cleaning up the Madison lakes, then Madison property owners may be looking forward to mandatory raingarden alterations of their land at their own expense.
