"We like the proactive approach to management of airport property. In other words, plant what wildlife doesn't like so they are less likely to come in the first place, and save on the mowing costs because it stays short," Kobland said.

Native Return is seeking funding for a larger-scale study so that the findings will be meaningful for the Federal Aviation Administration.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

While the Northeast Airport demonstration projects are small areas, the potential could be "huge," according to Kobland.

"I don't anticipate any downside," she said.

Kobland is more than impressed with what Conner, Remick and the FPCW have been able to accomplish. "They got this whole project started. Sometimes people don't act on their intuition because they think they can't make a difference," Kobland said. "If everything works out and the research shows it, (you'll be able to) see the change they brought about."

The demonstration project also fits in perfectly with Mayor Michael Nutter's Greenworks Philadelphia Plan to make the City of Brotherly Love the greenest city in America by 2015.

Introduced in April, the plan sets 15 measurable targets such as decreasing city energy consumption by 30 percent and increasing tree coverage by 30 percent.

Target 8 "recommends that the natural link between land and water be reconnected so that green infrastructure becomes the City's preferred storm water management system."

If followed, it could create about 3,200 acres of new pervious surfaces. Impervious surfaces include asphalt, pavement and structures that prevent rainwater absorption and generate runoff.

CHANGES IN THE PIPELINE

The meadow project also comes in advance of the Philadelphia Water Department's change in the way it handles its storm water charges for nonresidential customers.

The PWD currently recovers storm water-related costs through a service charge based on its customers' water meter size. Properties with larger meters generally have larger parcels of impervious land.

Beginning with the 2010 fiscal year, the PWD will base its storm water charges on an 80 percent/20 percent formula that considers the gross size of a customer's property and the amount of impervious surface.

It will also bill nonwater-metered parcels such as parking lots, utility right-of-ways and vacant land to share the storm water management burden.

According to PWD spokeswoman Joanne Dahme, the parcel-based storm water charge is calculated upon the cost of service to the sewer collection system.

"Although impervious properties have the greater impact, even large 'greener' properties contribute storm water," Dahme said, pointing out that hard-packed grass can shed storm water runoff almost as much as concrete.

The new billing structure also offers incentives for customers to modify their properties with green practices, such as the installation of porous paving, swales, rain gardens, etc.

"Large green properties such as golf courses, cemeteries, and the airport that have lots of grass area can lessen their gross area charge by converting landscape that includes meadows and trees that provide a greater ability for the land to absorb and manage storm water," Dahme explained. "So the meadow project at the airport is a great example of such a gross area credit application."

The model meadow, adjacent to the memorial Butterfly Garden, is open to the public and accessible via the Ashton Road entrance.