Sustainable Storm Water Project Flows to Murphy Commons
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2016
The City of Chico has chosen Murphy Commons Apartments as one of five pilot projects for storm water diversion. The city received a grant to provide neighborhood education and projects to reduce the quantity and manage the quality of storm water entering local creeks and greenways.
Franklin Construction is the general contractor on the project, which began this week.
Murphy Commons was chosen primarily because of its resident-managed community garden. Public Works Administration Manager Linda Herman said they thought “it might be a fun project to use rain barrels and other methods to capture rain water at the complex and use it for the garden and other landscaping.”
Residents organize, tend and manage the day-to-day operations for the garden, which sprouted in 2011. The garden encourages a sense of community among residents and teaches sustainability and green living. A lease agreement between CHIP and the city allowed Murphy Commons to use the land next to the apartment complex for several years and allowed for the garden’s expansion.
The storm water project includes construction of a rainwater tank, solar pump and a system for diverting water from the downspouts from eight of the units. Grass from the nearby area will be removed and replaced with a native plant landscape.
Murphy Commons is an 86-unit multifamily housing community owned and managed by CHIP and is located on Notre Dame Boulevard, across from Marsh Junior High School.
Community Housing Improvement Program
CHIP is a private, non-profit corporation providing quality affordable self-help housing, rental apartment communities and housing-related services to seven Northern California counties. The organization has built more than 2,000 housing units in the North Valley since 1973.
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For more information, contact:
Kris Zappettini
kzap@chiphousing.org 891.6931 x243
or
Desiree Gonzalez
dgonzalez@chiphousing.org
891.6931 x249/864-7030
