LEWISTON — Thanks to a joint effort between the Lewiston Public Works engineering division and the Lewiston School Department, the local Lots to Garden initiative now has an additional source of water for its garden located by the Lewiston High School ball field dugouts in Franklin Pasture.

Lots to Gardens is a youth and community driven organization, sponsored by St. Mary’s Health System, that uses sustainable urban agriculture to create access to fresh food and to nurture both healthy youth and a healthy community. Individuals are taught how to grow their own food, access affordable fresh food and youth are involved as leaders. Lots to Gardens also helps families and youth develop skills towards lifelong and community-wide change. Since 1999, Lots to Gardens has built 15 gardens and green spaces in four diverse Lewiston neighborhoods.

To provide participating gardeners with additional water, engineering division summer interns, Ben Sullivan and Greg LaBonte, installed gutters and downspouts on the LHS dugout and located a rain barrel under the downspout. The rain water runoff from the dugout roof fills the barrel providing water for the gardeners. The dugout roof, measuring 36 feet by 11 feet, provides 250 gallons of runoff in a one-inch rainstorm.

As a money saver, residents are also encouraged to install a rain barrel at their respective homes to collect water for lawns and gardens. In addition, by utilizing such runoff at homes, local rivers, streams and lakes will be kept cleaner, as stormwater runoff is the biggest threat to water quality.