How is a Rain Garden a Beautiful Method of Storm Water Control?

Storm-water, as the name suggests, is the water that comes from a storm. When storm water reaches the surface, it has three fates. It can collect, infiltrate, or run-off. But for people  that live in urban landscapes with a lot of impervious surfaces, we usually deal with water that runs off.

This can play a large role in water pollution as the run-off contains oil slick and debris from roads and fertilizers, pesticides ,and insecticides from vegetation maintenance. When these compounds find their way into our water sources they can disrupt the aquatic ecosystem and compromise the integrity of our water quality.

How Does a Rain Garden Help with These Issues?

Rain gardens are strategically placed to help capture polluted run off from entering our water streams. It acts as a bowl where the run off collects, and the water slowly enters the ground. The techniques that are used for this process in a rain garden can be further explained by informational signs that are located throughout the garden, which are pictured below!

Most impervious surfaces are man-made and cause more storm water to run off than it would naturally because it prevents the infiltration of the rain into soil. On the surface, substances like oil that drips from tailpipes, are harmful to animals that live in the aquatic environments that the run off goes to.

Infiltration trenches are often used in places where there is low water infiltration rates. They are designed to help manage storm water in areas that have limited space. This method is only effective in soils with high porosity. 

         

The uses of Gabion Baskets can be traced back to the late 1800s. They were used to help stabilize shorelines and protect against erosion. The sediments, when they get into aquatic environments, can clog waterways causing fish to die.

Berms are usually mounds of soil found at the top or bottom of a slope and can either help redirect water from areas that aren't porous or reduce the velocity of the water coming in.

Wattles can be made of different materials, but the most common material it is made out of is straw and wood. By slowing water flow and reducing the amount of sediment that goes into rain gutters,  our water quality is maintained and there's less floods.

In residential rain gardens the vegetation that is planted are usually ones that are native to the area and are porous, so the water can drain well. The effectiveness of a Residential Rain Garden largely depends on the quality of the soil. If the soil has been compacted and degraded, the Rain Garden's mechanisms are rendered useless.