Rain Gardens to the Rescue

Thanks to wonderful donors like you, along with funding from The Fred A and Barbara M Erb Family Foundation, Friends of the Rouge has awarded nine (9) rain gardens to Detroit residents who participated in our 2022 five-part training course throughout June. Combined sewers in the city and surrounding communities take wastewater from homes and businesses as well as stormwater runoff from streets and roofs to the water treatment plant but can easily be overwhelmed and exceed capacity during heavy rainfall. As a result, raw or partially treated wastewater is discharged directly into the Rouge and Detroit rivers. These sewage overflows are a major source of water pollution in the Great Lakes and are harmful to human and ecological health. Rain gardens are a low cost solution to this pollution. The focus area for residential rain gardens in Detroit in 2022 is Council District 6, which is made up of neighborhoods in the 48217 zip code. This area is heavily impacted by industry. The rain gardens, designed by participants during the course with support from stormwater experts, will capture and store rainwater runoff from the roofs of recipients’ homes – preventing the water from flowing into . These gardens are going to help store thousands of gallons of water each time it rains, keeping it out of the system, and help work toward the goal of 5,000 rain gardens installed by 2035!

Through the course, the 2022 participants learned what rain gardens are, their purpose, how they function, rain garden design, and rain garden maintenance. The course was held in person at New Mount Hermon Baptist Church after two years of virtual programming. Sixteen (16) community members attended the first workshop, Introduction to Rain Gardens. Participants were very engaged and excited to learn about rain gardens and to connect with fellow community members. Participants shared their rain garden designs during the last workshop, held on June 29^th. It is always fun to see the creativity of our students. The rain gardens they designed are to be installed in August 2022.  

The course teaches participants to be water stewards in their communities and gain the knowledge to help neighbors install gardens too. Garden recipients will be recruiting at least ten friends, family and neighbors to help install their garden this August. Program participants will also help install two of their classmate’s gardens to earn their certification in the course. Engaging additional community members to help build the rain gardens is an excellent hands-on learning experience and amplifies the educational impact of the program. Witnessing how easy these gardens can be done will inspire others to build rain gardens of their own.

One of our garden recipients, Betsy, who recently moved into the city, was having stormwater issues in her basement from a neighbor’s downspout outputting rainwater toward her foundation. The homes are very close one another in the neighborhood. The rainwater from one rooftop can impact multiple houses. Betsy had spoken with her next-door neighbor, Gloria, a long-time resident in the community, about the program and invited her to the class to learn more about rain gardens and stormwater management. With funds generously contributed through GlobalGiving, Friends of the Rouge was able to award Gloria a rain garden of her own! Betsy and Gloria have both learned so much during the course and they look forward to inviting their neighbors to their simultaneous garden installs in August. Many of Betsy and Gloria’s neighbors are Spanish speaking. We are excited to share our rain garden educational materials recently translated into Spanish with them. Gloria is excited to try planting native flowers outdoors after some landscape plants have failed. Betsy is looking forward to replacing her front grass lawn with native plants. These gardens are going to manage and clean stormwater for years to come while providing valuable green space for wildlife and spaces where people can connect with nature. Additional gardens will be installed later this year through another Friends of the Rouge project in Detroit.

Links:

• Rain Gardens to the Rescue Homepage