Outreach

Education is an important part of what the Rice Creek Watershed District does. It plays an essential role in protecting the natural resources of the Rice Creek Watershed.

The Blue Thumb – Planting for Clean Water program, still in its infancy, is up for its second award. The Blue Thumb program is an online outreach program with A to Z information to help residents plan and plant native gardens, raingardens and shorelines with native plants to help solve water quality problems. The website http://www.bluethumb.org features planting blueprints, a plant selector tool, local retailers and landscapers, grant information, how-to guides and videos, and more.

The Blue Thumb program was started by the Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD) as an outreach program to help residents do their part to protect water and to help cities meet strategic water quality improvement goals and federal Clean Water Act mandates. But since organizations all over the metro were working on similar goals, this program quickly grew to bring the efforts of 44 partners under one umbrella combining resources, minimizing duplication of efforts and increasing the strength of outreach to residents with a clear, unified public education message. This program saves both water resources and tax payer dollars. The Blue Thumb partners range from local governmental units to non-profit and community organizations to a variety of private businesses.

Blue Thumb plantings create gorgeous landscapes while decreasing all of the top water quality concerns, providing habitat to fish and wildlife, reducing the use of chemicals needed, and reducing air pollution from mowing while boosting our local economy.

Why are plants so effective in maintaining water quality? The “magic” is largely due to the root systems. Plant roots, especially native plants that tend to have longer roots, act as filters by absorbing polluted run-off and excess nutrients. These long roots also decrease erosion and soil compaction as well as find their own water. Regular lawn grass is basically on ‘life-support’ because it needs constant watering in order to stay green through a hot and dry summer. Native plants do not require watering after establishment, which only takes a few months.

We have literally paved the way to polluted waters since streets connect to lakes and rivers through storm sewer pipes. Stormwater runoff is listed by the Environmental Protection Agency as the number one cause of water pollution. Mimicking nature, raingardens and other native plantings let water soak into the ground - capturing and filtering polluted runoff and recharging groundwater. The nature of stormwater runoff is that it is “non-point source pollution” meaning it comes from a little erosion here and a few grass clippings there.

Since most land in the state is privately owned, what residents do in their individual yards with the help of the Blue Thumb program makes a huge difference in collective water quality. In the last year, nearly 15,000 people have visited the Blue Thumb website with raingardens being the most sought after information. The online plant selector tool that aids gardeners in selecting plants appropriate for particular soil, light, and moisture conditions is another popular page.