Water resources engineer Joseph Battiata was driving with his wife in the pouring rain one day, struggling to explain how difficult it is to manage stormwater runoff in ways that protect water quality.
"Where do you think all this water goes?" he asked her finally.
She paused for a second, then replied: "Away."
Battiata drew laughs with that exchange Wednesday morning, but it illustrated the serious, central issue of a two-day statewide summit in Williamsburg: how to educate and convert the public to conservation landscaping — starting in their own backyards.
"Protecting Water Quality Through Actions on Urban-Suburban Properties" brought together an array of stakeholders, from academics and landscapers to conservationists and government representatives, to share experiences and ideas about sustainable funding, model programs, best practices and public outreach and education. It was hosted by the Norfolk-based Wetlands Watch in partnership with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.
Private property owners in Hampton Roads, in particular, can play a crucial role in restoring water quality, living within the 64,000-square-mile watershed but also directly on the bay, which has suffered from nutrient and sediment overload for decades. Virginia is on a federally imposed "pollution diet," or Total Maximum Daily Load, to reduce pollutants draining into the bay.
Fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture have long been targeted as pollution sources, but summit speakers noted that private property owners also bear responsibility. Among the culprits are common yet environmentally unsound landscaping features such as chemically fertilized lawns, impermeable paving stones and rain gutters that feed stormwater into the street.
Better landscaping options, speakers said, include rain gardens, rain barrels, living shorelines, green roofs, permeable pavers, dry ponds, no or reduced fertilizer use, and replacing grass lawns with native plants and trees.
Adopting even one conservation feature could make a difference, they said, and could be as simple as setting lawnmower blades to a minimum 3 inches, recycling grass clippings or installing a rain barrel.
"We had some success with a rain barrel program," said Christin Jolicoeur, watershed planner for Arlington County. "What we found was that rain barrels were the gateway drug." Once homeowners had one, she explained, they were ripe for more buy-in to sustainable landscaping.
But reducing enough residential runoff to make a difference will take buy-in from the public on a massive scale.
"We need tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of homeowner load reductions to make it meaningful," said Tom Schueler, executive director of the Chesapeake Stormwater Network.
Convincing some homeowners to give up fertilizers won't be easy, said Battiata, president of the Center for Watershed Protection based in Ellicott City, Md. "It's like guns in Virginia — 'You're not taking my fertilizer away.'"
The challenge is educating the public about their role in the watershed and also empowering them to reduce the amount of runoff that drains off their land and into the bay with every rainfall.
Localities, too, need to be brought up to speed on their new responsibilities. According to Ginny Snead with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, many localities aren't aware that revised state regulations that went into effect in 2011 require most of them to operate their own local stormwater management program.
Arlington County initiated a pilot project in 2012 called StormwaterWise Landscapes to promote best management practices (BMP) to homeowners, offering soup-to-nuts assistance, Jolicoeur said.
Homeowners applied, sites were assessed and selected. Project plans were submitted, installed and inspected. At the end of the year, homeowners were reimbursed for about half their costs.
Project costs varied, she said, but in general homeowners spent about $500 for conservation landscaping and about $1,000 for features such as rain gardens. Costs are expected to increase in 2013.
The 2012 program budget was $44,000 to service 40 homeowners and maintain part-time staff. For 2013, they've lined up $112,000 to service at least 60 homeowners.
Key to a successful program, besides acquiring funding, Jolicoeur said, is providing "a lot" of technical and moral support to homeowners, who are often bewildered by the process.
Nissa Dean, Virginia director for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, said replacing "big, green lawns" with native plants and trees that draw birds and butterflies can be its own reward.
"And know for peace of mind we're protecting the bay and the rivers that flow into the bay at the same time," said Dean. "Together, we can get the public to think differently about their backyards."