Goal For The Green

Rain Garden - Image via Wikipedia

Across North America, many regions and municipalities, are looking to rain gardens as a solution to storm water run-off.  Why? Because, the centuries-old approach, of piping water off the land, as fast as possible, and dumping it into waterways, is failing quickly.  In fact, our entire infrastructure, nationwide, is in desperate need of attention, and repairs.

Rain Gardens Such A Simple Solution

The solution in some areas, could be as simple and aesthetically pleasing, as rain gardens, in low lying problem areas to make managing run-off, a sustainable reality. They incorporate native vegetation, to a particular area, so there is no need for fertilizers.

Planting, near natural waterways, acts as a natural filtering solution, that not only beautifies the landscape, but helps reduce water pollution.

Cities In Dire Need of Rain Garden Solutions

Philadelphia, is a city with some of the oldest combined storm and sewer infrastructure, in North America.  Every year, billions of gallons of sewage and over-flow, from its 164 outfalls, makes its way to the city’s creeks, streams, and rivers during major rainstorms. The solution? Use rain gardens!

In a Milwaukee hospital study, the number of children with serious diarrhea rises, whenever the city’s sewers overflow. Again, rain gardens would mitigate this threat, promoting healthy living.

Run-off pollution, from suburban and agricultural sources, threatens New York City’s, drinking water supply.

Here in Washington, it’s estimated that every twenty-four months, rainwater run-off, from the streets of Seattle, flushes into Puget Sound.  What’s astonishing is the volume of oil is equivalent to that of the Exxon Valdez spill. Wouldn’t the installation of rain gardens make sense?!

The impact, on water quality and the effect on water quantity, is devastating. Traditional engineering practices, have been treating rainwater, as a problem, to be carried off the land, as quickly as possible.  In a matter of hours, pipes dump as much as, a hundred times more water per minute into a stream, than most streams, whose banks have been stabilized over many years , can accommodate.  This wreaks havoc on fish habitats.  In Vancouver, British Columbia, there were once over fifty salmon- and trout-bearing streams.  Fishermen, from all over the western United States, would plan annual trips, to fish there.  In  2009, that number of streams, was reduced to two.

Rain Garden Applications Growing

What started as rooftop, and green roof gardens, has now become a popular and reasonable way, to capture run off, in many cities.  In rooftop versions, of rain gardens,water that isn’t captured on the roofs, is caught in basement cisterns. Until, it  is used for landscape irrigation, or toilet flushing, water from the cisterns circulates continuously, through visible neighborhood water features.  Moving water, is  delightful to watch.  Movement of water, aerates it, and exposes it to sunlight, which in turn, keeps it at a level of quality, good enough to swim in.

The technical success and aesthetic appeal of rain gardens, as a  sustainable rainwater infrastructure,  and its cost-effectiveness, is a welcoming strategy, to many municipalities, struggling to maintain outdated and overburdened pipe, infrastructure.

Philadelphia has set a goal of transforming at least a third of existing impervious cover, into “greened acres,” over the next two decades. To do this, the have adopted a program to filter or store, the first inch of each rainfall.  It turns out,  that the first inch, is enormously significant. Except, in Florida, most rainstorms in North America, deliver less than an inch of rain per day. If, a site can infiltrate an inch a day, it will  then be treating, 80 to 90 percent of its rain on site.

Support and information, is also provided to homeowners, wanting to collect roof runoff in rain barrels, or disconnect downspouts to direct runoff to certain areas, or use site slopes to create rain gardens.  Philadelphia, is also phasing in an initiative, that separates storm water billing from the actual water bill, and ties it to the impervious cover of the site.  They are doing this, to encourage retrofitting of commercial and residential property, for on-site rainwater management.

Philadelphia’s green infrastructure agenda, has received overwhelmingly 92% positive response.  In my town, of Poulsbo, Washington, grants have been received to install, up to eight rain gardens, to help clean and filter the run-off entering Liberty Bay.  I can’t think of a more beautiful way to do the job, than planting beautiful rain gardens.

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Rain Gardens are key to our future success on this planet.