A Rain Garden along a City of Madison Street takes shape |
The big brown rectangle in the back is the Rain Garden. It acts as a small catch basin allowing a recharge of the groundwater. Madison is surrounded by 4 Lakes and the ensuing rise in the water table means that springs will come back to life. Rain Gardens also serve as a way to filter out chemicals and debris that would otherwise find their way into the aquifers and lakes. To date, over 498 Rain Gardens have been installed in the City of Madison.
Father and Son Plant their Rain Garden (Photo Courtesy Wisconsin DNR) |
It is very easy to get one started. First of all, kids like to dig in the dirt. Now, you can let the little tikes loose with their shovel and pails and make them part of the solution. Ahem, some adult supervision is going to be required here. Seriously, clean water is important today and for future generations. Involve your kids in the process and let them spread the excitement to their friends when they return to school in the fall. Fresh water is a critical resource for our nation and we want to ensure that it is available for future Americans.
On a grander scale steps have been taken to stem the flow of storm water run-off into Madison's Lake Wingra. After years of community involvement with engineers, a storm water retention pond took shape. Acting much like a Rain Garden, storm water is held and slowly released into the Lake via gravity. Take a moment to explore the work. I hope you are inspired to spread the word about Rain Gardens and maybe even build one yourself!
Use the Arrows at the bottom to move around, and highlight boxes to zoom-in on details.
This would be a good technique to reduce the amount of rainwater that runs off from your property. :) Most gardens are usually bowl shaped and make use of loose deep soils in collecting and absorbing the water. Be sure to choose the right vegetation to plant. Plants which crawl up and spread instead of growing upwards are also great for soil erosion prevention.
ReplyDeleteMonica Barnes