The Environmental Benefits Of The Landscape
      - Our Green Urban Ecosystem

Clean Water

Plants in our communities protect our water quality. One of the most important ways they do so is by reducing the amount of water that runs into gutters and into the ocean, streams and rivers during storms. The more hard surfaces we have-driveways, roofs, sidewalks, and decks-the faster the water runs off, overwhelming our water purification systems.

There are two problems with this. First, in some coastal communities, the massive amounts of water overwhelm the sewage treatment plants, and sewage overflows into the ocean. Second, the storm water runoff itself is contaminated with chemicals it picks up flowing over driveways and rooftops. Plant leaves slow the water, trapping it, and directing it into the ground. The greater the amount of hard surfaces, the greater the storm water runoff problem.

Plant root zones also protect our water resources by filtering water running through the ground, where soil microbes help break down chemicals into harmless materials.

Finally, plants reduce erosion, which left unchecked, fills our streams and rivers with silt.