Blueprint Columbus remains committed to maintaining our vast network of nearly 700 green infrastructure sites on a monthly basis. This tremendous work is aided by contractors in each Blueprint project area who are required to inspect and report basin conditions to us every month to ensure adequate work is completed in your neighborhood.

Blueprint maintenance contractors are designated by project area and are responsible for a specific set of rain garden basins. Each basin is visited twice per month, once for an inspection and once for maintenance. At this time, we are unable to quote a specific date and time for each basin maintenance visit as our contractors are responsible for scheduling crews under the city maintenance contracts. To see which contractor you may see in your neighborhood, scroll back up to our maintenance explanation outline above.

Blueprint Columbus remains committed to maintaining our infrastructure on a monthly basis, and we appreciate your cooperation. At this time, City Code governing the installation of green infrastructure does not allow for residents to maintain the rain garden basins themselves, as the basins are directly connected to the city’s critical storm sewer infrastructure network. Additionally, biosoils and mulches in the gardens can become uneven for walking or kneeling very quickly, and we do not want residents to place themselves in an unsafe situation. For your safety and the continuity of our infrastructure, we ask that you remain outside of the basin at all times and respect posted No Parking zones near the basins.

Unfortunately, residents are not permitted to add or remove any plants from the rain garden basins under Columbus City Code governing critical infrastructure. The basins are directly connected to the city’s critical storm sewer infrastructure network and serve a critical role in reducing pollution in our stormwater runoff. Additionally, pollutants filtered through the biosoils and plants can and will harm other vegetation, especially produce. We appreciate our Blueprint neighbors’ cooperation in remaining outside of our infrastructure.

In some basins, native plants may be mistaken for weeds; you might see leaf buildup, and you occasionally might see some litter. This means our basins are working exactly as designed, using native plants to help filter stormwater runoff and diverting pollutants from our rivers and streams. Excessive rainfall this spring provided excellent conditions for native plants to thrive and for some weed growth. The debris and weeds will be removed on the next maintenance visit, but rest assured that many of the plants in each basin belong there.

Columbus Water & Power’s network of 675 green infrastructure sites serves a critical role in reducing pollution in our stormwater runoff. These basins have been extensively modeled and must remain in their finalized design locations to allow the city to meet an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Consent Order mandating water quality. As such, we are unable to remove basins from our project areas. Our green infrastructure is scientifically proven to be an effective measure to reduce pollution and enhance neighborhoods.