---
title: "How to Get Urban Farms Flowing in the Right Direction: Harvest the Rainwater"
date: 2023-10-11T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/how-to-get-urban-farms-flowing-the-right-direction-harvesting-rainwater"
section: Articles
---
# How to Get Urban Farms Flowing in the Right Direction: Harvest the Rainwater

*October 11, 2023* — by [Allison Eatough ’97](/author/allison-eatough-97)


> $300K USDA Grant Supports UMD Researchers’ Work to Provide Safe Alternative to Municipal Water

*IMG 9179 1920x1080 — Assistant Professor Rachel Rosenberg Goldstein and members of her research team tour Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm, led by Richard "Farmer Chippy" Francis (below) to learn how the rainwater harvesting system they are building at Terp Farm would meet the Baltimore farm's needs.*

At the [Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm](https://plantationparkheights.org/) in Baltimore, watering the end-of-season tomatoes, kale and Brussels sprouts takes more than just a turn of a spigot.

It involves prying up a manhole cover on a nearby sidewalk and running two 100-foot hoses from the city’s public water system into rows of vegetables that rarely get enough hydration from rain alone.

From April through October, this is the daily routine for founder Richard Francis, better known as “Farmer Chippy,” a former biomedical field service engineer who set up the farm to help residents of the Park Heights neighborhood grow their own food on abandoned city-owned lots.

“Setup and breakdown takes 15 minutes,” he said. “The watering takes two hours. And I have to constantly monitor to make sure there are no leaks.”

A new project spearheaded by environmental health Assistant Professor [Rachel Rosenberg Goldstein and colleagues from](https://sph.umd.edu/people/rachel-e-rosenberg-goldstein) UMD’s [Environmental Finance Center (EFC)](https://arch.umd.edu/research-creative-practice/centers/environmental-finance-center), [University of Maryland Extension](https://extension.umd.edu/) (UME) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Services will help urban farmers like Francis harvest and filter rainwater to nourish their crops and eventually create more sustainable farms and resilient communities.

Funded by a $300,000 USDA grant, the project aims to solve a growing challenge for urban farmers nationwide: the availability and cost of city water.

“Most urban farmers rely on municipal water for irrigation, which depends on proximity to existing water mains and can be expensive, unreliable or dependent on a city’s capacity for maintenance,” said Goldstein, a water quality specialist.

In a recent survey led by Goldstein and her colleagues, 100% of the 38 Baltimore farmers and community gardeners they contacted reported having access to city-supplied water, but more than half said they had trouble managing and supplying the water to their farms. Issues included long waits for repairs, limited availability by season and frequent leaks.


*a man in a wide-brimmed straw hat and a blue button-down shirt*



**Sidebar note:**

Environmental health Assistant Professor [Rachel Rosenberg Goldstein](https://sph.umd.edu/people/rachel-e-rosenberg-goldstein) was recently awarded the National Institutes of Health’s $1.3 million New Innovator Award in recognition of her creative, high-impact research on water quality and public health.

The funding will support her research on the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in sewage. Studies show that wastewater can be an environmental source of infections from such pathogens, which can also cause gastrointestinal illnesses.

Goldstein will create a community-driven[ Water Emergency Team](https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10686675) to respond to basement backups and sanitary sewer overflows. The research team will collect wastewater samples in Baltimore and Prince George’s County and analyze the samples in her[ Water Quality, Outreach and Wellness (WOW) Lab](https://sph.umd.edu/research-impact/laboratories-projects-and-programs/water-quality-outreach-and-wellness-wow-laboratory) at UMD.

Researchers will also interview residents to evaluate health risks linked to these events. “By understanding sources of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment, we can reduce exposure to these pathogens and the infections they cause, especially in underserved communities,” Goldstein said.





**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [University of Maryland Extension](https://today.umd.edu/topic/university-of-maryland-extension-2), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [School of Public Health](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-public-health)