Throughout the last 5 years, the Grounds Department has been allocated a small budget for "stormwater plantings." The intention is to provide funds for a minor renovation of a landscape area on campus that will make the treated area more stormwater efficient. In the 2006-07 planting season, Grounds Supervisors added a little spice to the idea by contributing $200 of there own money to fund a contest among the crews. Three independent "judges" graded the projects on three criteria: beauty, creativity and stormwater effect, with the top two projects receiving cash prizes.

Three outstanding projects received cash awards in 2007.

First Place - Lower Quad - Their project on Country Club Rd added a soil berm to redirect water and extended the existing landscape beds from Jackson Hall into an area south of Stacy dorm that was causing seasonal erosion.

Second Place (tie) - Carrington - The landscape bed at the bus stop was suffering from too much stormwater and too much foot traffic. The solution was to direct the stormwater into a rock channel and create raised beds that were not subject to idle pedestrians.

Second Place (tie) - Phillips Hall - This project took a small area between Phillips and Memorial Hall that had excessive foot traffic and a low grade lawn and created a beautiful, diverse landscape bed that includes over a dozen species of plants.

The real winner was the UNC campus with a more attractive and a more stormwater efficient landscape.