By Cyndi Ross | Restoration Manager
Last year was a productive year for Rain Gardens to the Rescue! Friends of the Rouge, with help from project partners and volunteers from the community, created over 9,600 sq. ft. of new gardens designed to manage rainwater and improve water quality and wildlife habitat in the Rouge and Detroit Rivers. These amazing gardens prevent ~500,000 gallons of rainwater runoff from entering the combined sewer system annually.
What this means to the Rouge and Detroit Rivers is a cleaner, safer place for fish and other life to thrive. It means less sewage overflows, less pollution, and less sediment. It means enjoyable recreation close to home for millions of people in Southeast Michigan. It means less pollution in Lake Erie.
What this means to the community is less incidents of basement backups and damage to precious treasures and major household appliances (furnaces, hot water heaters, washers and dryers) that are critical to the health and well-being of families.
What this means for the sites receiving these rain gardens is space for childhood play and exploration, outdoor weddings and event space, a place for spiritual reflection and meditation, a place to connect with nature. Sites receiving rain gardens in 2024 include:
What this means for the bees, birds and butterflies is food, shelter and a place to simply survive. Last year the Monarch butterfly was added to the list of Threatened and Endangered Species. If more people incorporate rain gardens and native flowers, trees, grasses and shrubs into their home and commercial landscapes, the trend of species decline may be reversed. For the Monarch butterfly a simple addition of milkweed plants can make all the difference. There are several types of milkweeds that are critical for the survival of Monarchs, these include common milkweed (Asclepias syiraca), Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnate) and more. Common milkweed has an amazingly fragrant flower. It will spread and should be used where this is acceptable. Swamp milkweed is great for rain gardens and does not spread like the common milkweed. Butterfly weed has vibrant orange flowers in June and is a fabulous addition to any landscape.
Join us in 2025 to continue this work in community across the region. Your support is appreciated and directly helps to protect and restore the Rouge River in Southeast Michigan.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
