City revises fire hydrant policy that drained urban gardens in Chicago
Advocates for Urban Agriculture also launched a grant to help gardens pay for tapping into hydrants under the new policy
By Pascal Sabino
Austin Weekly News
July 28th, 2020
Excerpt:
Community gardens and urban farms might have an easier time getting the water they need after the city changed its fire hydrant policy.
The mid-summer changes reduce some of the barriers that have prevented many urban growers from using city water for much of the season.
The previous rules, introduced in the winter, made it so community gardens were required to pay hundreds of dollars for the equipment and installation necessary to apply for a permit to tap into the hydrants.
They came with headaches for gardeners: Even after a community garden in Humboldt Park did all that, they heard nothing from the city for weeks and relied on a neighbor’s water to care for their plots.
The city rolled back some of the cumbersome and expensive new rules, and nonprofit Advocates for Urban Agriculture has stepped up to offer grants to cover the steep costs of tapping hydrants.
