Report examines adoption of stormwater best management practices and homeowner responses to incentives to increase adoption rates
Image Credit: Rain Dog Designs
Urban stormwater runoff is a large and increasing source of Maryland's pollutant load to the Chesapeake Bay. Local governments will need to partner with communities to increase awareness and provide incentives to motivate existing homeowners to adopt stormwater best management practices (BMPs). How effective are incentives in encouraging the adoption of stormwater BMPs?
Assistant Professor David Newburn, Professor Anna Alberini, and recent AREC graduate Alison Karp, all from the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AREC), along with Amanda Rockler of Maryland Sea Grant Extension, have recently published Extension Bulletin 413, Adoption of Household Stormwater Best Management Practices, to help answer this question.
With funding from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Columbia Association, a 2012 household survey was conducted to understand which household demographic and other factors explain the current levels of awareness and adoption for four stormwater best management practices (rain gardens, rain barrels, low fertilizer lawn care, and conservation landscaping). Furthermore, this analysis examined the homeowner response to a hypothetical rebate program for rain gardens. The analysis should assist local governments and stormwater professionals to target their educational awareness campaigns and to design effective rebate programs to encourage rain garden adoption.
