Rain gardens are shallow depressions filled with native plants designed to catch and absorb stormwater runoff from roofs, streets, parking lots and other areas.

• Create A Rain Garden (pdf)
• View photos of local rain garden demonstration projects

Rain barrels collect rainwater from your roof and store it for later use such as watering your landscape. Rainwater harvesting can also be done on a larger scale by homeowners, businesses and industries using larger cistern systems that collect rainwater for landscape irrigation, toilet flushing, and industrial non-drinking uses.

• Rain Barrel Rebate Program for Greene County residents
• How to Make a Rain Barrel (pdf)

Landscaping with native plants can help reduce the amount of runoff from your property. Native plants have much deeper roots systems than typical non-native turf grass, helping more rainwater to soak into the soil.

• Grow Native Buyer's Guide - Suppliers of Native Plant Products & Services in Missouri (pdf)
• A Guide to Native Landscaping in Missouri.
• Know Your Roots
• Plants of Merit
• A Subdivision Association Guide for Converting Turf to Prairie (pdf)
• Plants for Stormwater Design

Trees help to reduce the amount of runoff and pollution reaching our streams in several ways. The leaves, branches, and bark intercept and store rainnwater. Through evapotranspiration, trees take up water from the soil, making room for more to soak in. Tree roots increase the capacity and rate at which water soaks into the ground. The tree canopy also reduces erosion caused by the impact of raindrops hitting bare soil.

• City of Springfield Tree Program - Neighborwoods, Tree Registry, and other tree resources and information
• Control Stormwater Runoff with Trees (pdf)
• The Heart of the Tree Information Guide (pdf)
• National Tree Benefit Calculator
• Arbor Day Interactive Poster: Trees Tame Stormwater

A green roof is a vegetated roof. Green roofs reduce the amount of runoff and pollution reaching our streams while also providing many other benefits including air quality and energy efficiency. The plants on the roof take up and use rainwater through evapotranspiration.

• Green Roof Benefits (Green Roofs for Healthy Cities)
• EPA Green Roof Website - List of Resources (pdf)
• Residential Green Roof Systems

Unlike conventional pavement used for streets, driveways, parking lots, and sidewalks, pervious pavement allows rainwater to soak into the ground, reducing the amount of runoff and pollution reaching our streams. There are many different kinds of pervious pavement, including pervious concrete and asphalt, and concrete, grass, and gravel paver systems.

• Types of Pervious Pavement
• Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavement
• Pervious Concrete
• Porous Asphalt

• EPA Video "Reduce Runoff: Slow it down, spread it out, soak it in"
• University of Arkansas LID Manual - This guidebook put out by the University's Community Design Center is a visually stimulating and informative book containing great graphics and provoking thoughts about low impact development and the way we design our homes and cities.
• Low Impact Development
• Using Rainwater to Grow Livable Communities

Pet waste can end up in our streams and waterways when it rains. Especially in urban areas with a lot of pavement or in areas where waterways are nearby. Pet waste carries bacteria, viruses, and parasites that are unhealthy for you and your kids as well as for our beautiful streams. It also contains nutrients that promote algae growth, making our waterways green. We want to remind people that live in urban areas to pick up their pet waste and dispose of it properly. This action also helps to keep our yards and shoes clean! How to dispose of pet waste? Pet waste can be picked up using a bag and disposed of in the regular trash. As an alternative it can be buried. Congratulations to Rowdy and his owner Linden for submitting the winning photo for our Grab It & Bag It postcard!