Collaborating for Success: A Stormwater Story


August 23, 2018

Darlene Robbins with map of the project

GW Alumna Darlene Robbins, an ecological landscape designer, points to the key elements of the landscape design (Photo: Rock Creek Conservancy | Katy Cain).

GW Alumna, Darlene Robbins, an ecological landscape designer based in Silver Spring, MD, designed a project to solve a stormwater problem. The solution turned into a group effort with GW faculty members Chris Sonne and Rebecca Stack engineering it and GW alumnus Jeff Potter installing it.

What do you get when you bring together a determined homeowner’s association with a stormwater problem, a local watershed organization, a Chesapeake Bay clean water-focused grant organization, several green-minded engineers, an installation contractor with experience building sustainable landscapes, and an ecologically-focused landscape designer with a vision? A successful collaboration to turn that stormwater issue into a beautiful and functional community amenity!

The project has been made possible through the generous funding of the Montgomery County Water Quality Protection Fund through the Chesapeake Bay Trust. Rock Creek Conservancy is the recipient and administrator of the grant.