The grass is greener

By Diane Prokop

Times Staff Writer

What a difference a meadow can make.

It can bring native wildlife back to an area, cut down on the labor and fuel expenses of mowing, and improve water infiltration, reducing storm water runoff - considered by the EPA as the No. 1 pollution source for the nation's rivers and streams.

Last summer, Friends of Poquessing Creek Watershed board member Bruce Conner and its president, Donna Remick, brought that information to the attention of Calvin Davenger, deputy director for planning and environmental stewardship at the Philadelphia Division of Aviation.

The Northeast Philadelphia Airport straddles both the Poquessing Creek and Pennypack Creek watersheds and seemed the perfect spot for a demonstration project.

"The notion of a managed meadow has always been something that Donna has wanted to pursue. Part of the driving force is that so much of the Poquessing Watershed and the Northeast area as a whole are paved over - streets, large parking areas, and acres and acres of mowed grass area. It becomes difficult to educate people about alternatives when all you can do is describe it," Conner said.

Before long, the environmentalists will be able to show and not tell.

On June 22, Native Return founder Christina Kobland drill-seeded a 1.5-acre parcel near the airport's Butterfly Garden with native grasses that will in three year's time look like a meadow.

"Initially, it will look like a weed patch," she said.

HAPPY RETURNS

Native Return, a subconsultant on the project for Urban Engineers, works with corporations, public entities and individuals to create and manage native plant and animal habitat.

Kobland chose a meadow mix that will grow about 3 feet tall. The root system, however, can go down between 12 and 15 feet compared to the inch or two roots of turf grass.

The larger root system will absorb more water, thereby reducing runoff. "We had to walk a fine line because we don't want to draw in wildlife. Bigger birds and geese don't like taller grasses because they can't see their predators," Kobland said.

That's a good thing because large birds are a danger to aircraft. A recent example is the January forced landing of a U.S. Airways jetliner in the Hudson River.

The meadow should, however, attract smaller grassland birds such as meadowlark, Upland sandpipers and white quail, according to Kobland.

Native Return's contract also calls for the monitoring of wildlife. Kobland doesn't anticipate any problems.

The meadow area is considered an outfield of the airport. Across the road is an infield, where Native Return is also doing an airfield turf grass study with a mix it developed called Jet Turf. The grass requires less mowing, and wildlife don't like to eat it.

"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.

Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com

Get all the dirt . . .

To learn more about Native Return, visit www.NativeReturn.com

To learn more about the Friends of Poquessing Creek Watershed, visit www.friendsofpoquessing.org

To learn more about the city's Greenworks plan, visit www.phila.gov/green/greenworks/index.html

For more information about the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, visit www.phl.org/pne/pne.html