Archive: 2006

Articles

IECA newsletter article on B&V's rain garden (PDF)

Government Engineer has joined Water Online in posting our rain garden news (PDF)

Releases

Friday, April 14, 2006: KC Star

Rain garden ceremony

A ceremony for the area’s first corporate rain garden will be held April 21 at Black & Veatch Corp. offices in Kansas City.

Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes will attend the ceremony as the city pushes its “10,000 Rain Gardens” initiative, which is meant to curb the amount of contaminated storm water from entering waterways in the Kansas City area. The initiative aims to have 10,000 rain gardens planted in the area over the next few years.

A rain garden has native plants with deep roots that allow water to infiltrate into the soil. The garden can trap up to 99 percent of pollutants that would otherwise be in the storm runoff.

Black & Veatch is the prime contractor for Kansas City’s Comprehensive City-Wide Stormwater Management Plan, called KC-One.

Black & Veatch Welcomes Mayor Kay Barnes to Groundbreaking for First Corporate Rain Garden in Kansas City

Hundreds of people attended the Black & Veatch Rain Garden Groundbreaking Ceremony on April 21 at 8400 Ward Parkway for the first corporate rain garden affiliated with the city of Kansas City’s “10,000 Rain Gardens” initiative. The ceremony included speeches from Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes, Water Services Director Frank Pogge and Dan McCarthy, president and CEO of B&V Water.

The 10,000 Rain Gardens initiative links citizens, corporate sponsors, educators and members of non-profit organizations with government officials to take action on important environmental issues like water quality and stormwater management. Planting 10,000 Rain Gardens in the Kansas City area during the next few years should reduce potential problems with water pollution and stream degradation.

Photo: Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes and Dan McCarthy, Black & Veatch

A rain garden is a shallow basin or depression planted with native plants. The native plants have deep roots that allow water to infiltrate into the soil. According to recent research, properly designed rain gardens can effectively trap and retain up to 99 percent of common pollutants in urban storm runoff, potentially improving water quality and promoting the conversion of some pollutants into less harmful compounds.

The initiative recently was named as one of 15 nationwide finalists in the 2006 Waste Management/U.S. Conference of Mayors City Livability Awards Program. The winners will be announced at the June 3 conference in Las Vegas.

Black & Veatch is the prime contractor for Kansas City's Comprehensive City-Wide Stormwater Management Plan, called KC-One. The idea for the 10,000 Rain Gardens was generated in the city's internal meeting on stormwater management.

Photo: KCUR interviews Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shields.

Black & Veatch also has been active in the initiative by making various presentations, participating in training sessions and assisting with a mayoral-appointed advisory panel of civic leaders. During the next few months, the company will be launching a program to encourage participation by Black & Veatch professionals, led off by the construction of a rain garden at the home of Dan McCarthy.

“Mayor Barnes has been a strong advocate for the voluntary rain garden program so we were pleased she came to our groundbreaking ceremony,” McCarthy said. “We believe the rain garden initiative has the potential to make a real difference in preventing contaminated stormwater from entering waterways in the Kansas City area.”

McCarthy encouraged B&V professionals to get involved by volunteering to create a rain garden at their own home or to help build and maintain the corporate rain garden. Charter members of what’s called the “B&V Rain Garden Brigade” received a starter plant, a how-to guide and a gift certificate, courtesy of Critical Site Products of Belton.

As I See It: KC Star: May 4, 2006

A campaign to construct rain gardens

By Dan McCarthy

As stewards of the first corporate rain garden in the Kansas City area, Black & Veatch would like to challenge other companies in the region to plant rain gardens on your premises and to launch programs that engage your employees in the 10,000 Rain Gardens initiative.

Black & Veatch has made a long-term commitment to this program, partially because the rain gardens initiative hits our sweet spots, the two things we really care about — water quality and our home town. It’s our business goal to find engineered and natural solutions for problems we tackle in our communities. Stormwater runoff and stream degradation affect water quality in Kansas City, and rain gardens can help prevent these problems.

Beyond our water division’s business goal, it’s our corporate goal to be actively “building a world of difference.” That drives us to take the lead here in Kansas City and to call other companies to action.

We encourage you as local business men and women to consider how you, too, can commit to the 10,000 Rain Gardens initiative. You can do so privately, with rain gardens in your own backyards, or you can do so publicly by getting your companies and your employees involved in full-scale programs.

Our program involves an internal team we’re calling the B&V Rain Garden Brigade, a group of enthusiastic gardeners who have volunteered to build rain gardens at home or to assist in the digging and maintenance of our corporate rain garden and our future green roof garden. On the first day of sign-up, more than 40 committed to build their own rain gardens at their homes.

During our rain garden groundbreaking ceremony April 21 at our Ward Parkway office, Mayor Kay Barnes pointed out that this initiative was a way to engage the public in a pro-active and creative solution to some of our wet weather problems.

The 10,000 Rain Gardens initiative has set a goal of planting 50 corporate rain gardens during 2006. Although it’s possible to plant them until the first freeze next fall, now is the time to get started on planning.

There are five overall steps:

First, get the commitment of your management team. How much commitment will you make? How long, over what period of time, will you make this commitment?

Then outline the scope of what you plan to do. How many rain gardens will you plant? How do you best engage employees in your program?

Before any work begins, be sure to get permission from your building’s landlords or architectural committee, and ask whether you can publicize what you’re doing by posting signs beside the gardens.

Develop a communications plan to let your employees, neighbors and clients know what you’re doing.

Finally, launch the program and let the 10,000 Rain Gardens organizers know that they’re one corporate rain garden closer to their goal.

Black & Veatch is trying to help a good idea spread throughout our city, so we’re appealing to your civic conscience and asking each of you to launch a corporate rain garden program at your place of business.

Dan McCarthy is president and chief executive officer of B&V Water, the water business of Black & Veatch. He lives in Kansas City.

Kansas City Star – Page C-2

Rain garden planting

Black & Veatch employees and friends will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday to plant a rain garden at the company’s offices at 8400 Ward Parkway.

The engineering and construction company was the first Kansas City corporation to sign up for the city’s “10,000 Rain Gardens” initiative, an environmental project designed to collect storm water runoff and return it to the ground.

Details about the program are posted at www.bvraingardens.com or www.rainkc.com.

Black & Veatch's ‘B&V Brigade’ To Dig In And Plant Kansas City’s First Corporate Rain Garden

Kansas City, Mo. (July 12, 2006) – This Saturday, July 15, Black & Veatch professionals, along with their families and friends, will begin planting Kansas City’s first corporate rain garden, which is affiliated with the city’s “10,000 Rain Gardens” initiative. The planting will take place at 9 a.m. at the 8400 Ward Parkway office of B&V Water, the water business of Black & Veatch.

B&V’s Rain Garden Brigade is a group of volunteers who support the rain garden program by taking part in the company’s activities or by building a rain garden at home. Rain gardens are sunken areas planted with native perennials that are specially designed to collect stormwater runoff and return it to the ground naturally and safely.

At the groundbreaking in April, the B&V Rain Garden Brigade members received a starter plant for their own rain garden and a discount voucher for additional native plants. Black & Veatch also offered other promotional items to the schools of the team members’ children. Besides informational leaflets that encourage students to plant their own rain gardens at home, Black & Veatch also donated a $50 gift certificate for the schools to purchase native plants. Critical Site Products offered the schools a matching gift of plants suitable for rain gardens.

“Over the last few months, we have been promoting this grassroots program to other businesses in the city and in other parts of the United States,” said Dan McCarthy, President and CEO of B&V Water. “We’ve been raising the corporate challenge and encouraging other companies to plant the seeds of community involvement.”

For more details about the rain garden program, please consult Black & Veatch’s website www.bvraingardens.com or the 10,000 Rain Gardens site www.rainkc.com.

The planting will take place rain or shine at 9 a.m., this Saturday at 8400 Ward Parkway. News media representatives will have an opportunity to interview B&V Water’s experts for more information on rain garden projects.

An RSVP is requested. Please reply to raingardens@bv.com or to George Minter (913) 458-8001.

About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch Corporation is a leading global engineerinsg, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water, information and government markets. Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions that meet clients’ needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions include conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, information technology, environmental, security design and consulting, and management consulting services.

B&V Water, Black & Veatch’s water business, provides innovative, technology-based solutions to utilities, governments and industries worldwide. Local project managers work with a global team of water and wastewater treatment process experts to address site-specific challenges through a broad range of consulting, study, planning, design, design-build and construction management services. The employee-owned company has more than 90 offices worldwide. Black & Veatch is ranked on the Forbes “500 Largest Private Companies in the United States” listing. The company’s Web site address is www.bv.com.

Videos

Rain Garden groundbreaking gallery of images
(2006, PowerPoint file for download)

Groundbreaking ceremony (15:33)
Launch video

TV News coverage of Kansas City's
first corporate rain garden (2:16)
Launch video

Planting Day (1:33)
Launch video

Events

June 27, 2006

Dan McCarthy will speak to the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce luncheon on June 27.

Photo: Dan McCarthy speaks at the B&V groundbreaking with Mayor Kay Barnes and Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shields.