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Next time you see stormwater sheeting across a patch of concrete or hot air shimmering above a plane of sizzling asphalt, ask yourself a question: “Does that impervious surface even need to be there?”

If the answer is “No,” you might have found a little slice of nature to reclaim through Cumberland River Compact’s Depave program, which converts unnecessary non-porous surfaces, such as parking lots, into green space.

With free consultation and volunteer manpower for digging and disposal available through the Compact, the hardest part of a Depave project can be identifying a patch of concrete, asphalt or other impervious surface that needs removing in the first place. After all, legacy structures such as abandoned parking lots or slabs can hide in plain sight. If they’ve always been there, it’s hard to imagine them not being there.

But imagine if they were gone. Rainwater would soak directly into soil, rather than gathering speed, along with automotive fluids, pesticides and herbicides, as it funnels into waterways. And asphalt hot enough to fry an egg would be replaced by cool trees, grass and flowers.

Started in Portland, Oregon, in 2008, the Depave network and its movement to “free the soil” have spread to Seattle, Chicago and Cleveland, as well as to Canada and the U.K.

Since joining the depaving movement in 2017, Nashville’s Cumberland River Compact has steered initiatives to uncover Cave Spring in Shelby Bottoms Park and to remove 74 tons of parking lot near the fairgrounds to make room for native plantings near Browns Creek. In Edwin Warner Park, a depaving project removed 64,000 square feet of asphalt to make way for nearly 125 native hardwood trees along the bank of the Little Harpeth.

A Depave project can be big or small. So look around for opportunities to replace impervious eyesores with lush greenspace. Then reach out to Cumberland River Compact for a free consultation.

https://cumberlandrivercompact.org/depave-consultation-request/