The most surprising tourist attraction in Portland, Ore., is its storm sewer system. Eco-friendly tourists flock to the city to understand how Portland's innovative system of curbs, gutters, roofs and rain gardens sharply cuts water pollution. When we started this 10 or 12 years ago, there was a lot of skepticism," says Dean Marriott, director of Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services. "Today, many cities are moving in this direction. People want to see how it's done.
About 50,000 homeowners have disconnected their gutter downspouts from the storm-water system -- the cheapest way to improve storm-water quality. The water flows from rooftops into gardens and rain barrels. The city rewards homeowners with signs that say, "I disconnected my downspout for clear rivers." Read Full Article >>![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=c8c20ea7-9567-4b2e-8d46-794cedee8bfd)
About 50,000 homeowners have disconnected their gutter downspouts from the storm-water system -- the cheapest way to improve storm-water quality. The water flows from rooftops into gardens and rain barrels. The city rewards homeowners with signs that say, "I disconnected my downspout for clear rivers." Read Full Article >>
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