11th February 2010
BEYOND THE BIG PIPE: COMMUNITY STORMWATER OPTIONS
BY CATHERINE STONE © 2009
(Fernwood Vibe Fall 2009 - posted with author's permission)
The City of Victoria rain gardens on Trent Street demonstrate simple and effective low-cost stormwater management principles that apply to public infrastructure as well as to the collection and slow infiltration of rainwater from your roof. Rain garden principles yield clean water, control flooding, and approximate natural processes.
At first sight the rain gardens simply appear to be planted curbsides bordered with strawberries. Look closely and you discover deep, flat-bottomed ditches; landscaped and enclosed except for intakes to capture run-off from the entire length of Trent Street. Included with the plants are “creek beds” of carefully placed smooth stones that serve to diffuse the flow of incoming storm water.
These rain gardens are temporary retaining ponds that allow accumulated stormwater to seep through the earth into nearby Bowker Creek, preventing large volumes of dirty water from directly entering the waterway. Each garden is fitted with an overflow connected to the big pipe storm sewer for drainage if inflows should exceed capacity.
Roots of selected water-tolerant grasses, hardy shrubs and trees hold the dirt in place and support communities of soil microbes that contribute to purifying the runoff before it flows underground to join the creek.
Retaining runoff and slowly releasing filtered water protects waterways from uncontrolled deluges of dirty water. Cleansing by the community of soil microorganisms and the process of soil filtration before the water travels underground to merge with the Creek is an obvious benefit. Clean water leads to a cleaner Bowker Creek, and that leads to a cleaner Oak Bay (in this case referring to the bay on the ocean, though the downstream municipality also benefits).
Rain gardens reduce water volume in the storm sewer system, an invaluable service during events when the combination of saltwater storm surges and rainfall inundation causes flooding. In turn, flooding causes public health risks and problems with water quality, expense, and unwanted effort and inconvenience.
Flooding along Bowker Creek might become a rare event if the simple principles of rain gardens were applied in sufficient numbers of effective locations. To that end, rain gardens in our yards will hold, absorb and slowly release rainwater from roofs and paved surfaces, and greatly reduce the stormwater effect originating from each of our homes. Action by folks living upstream of flood-prone areas will have a most important effect. A community spirit based on the fact that we’re all in this together is clearly essential.
Many European countries, and some places in Canada and the USA, successfully use rain gardens as both alternatives and supplements to conventional big pipe infrastructure common throughout North America. The small town where I used to live took long-range planning very seriously in the 1980s and purchased as many undeveloped natural drainage areas as possible. These are nature’s own rain gardens on a grand scale. Human intervention is generally unneeded as forces of nature guide the general flow of water toward these natural swales.
Victoria’s natural swales that have been drained, filled, or covered over are no longer available to perform their original functions. Rain gardens can compensate for the loss of functional natural drainage areas, especially during heavy or extended rains when stormwater infrastructure is inadequate to contend with today’s volumes of urban run-off.
A visible flow of water is highly effective for motivating people to learn more about stormwater management and water quality. That was the result several years ago when I first toured the High Point Redevelopment in Seattle, and it sparked enough interest and passion to write this article for you. Underground water is invisible. Rain gardens gather water on the surface where we can see it for a while.
Even when dry, a rain garden visually reminds us of flowing water and continues to offer shade, habitat, and food (nuts, seeds, and berries). Roots hold water in the soil year round.
Rain garden strategies lead to cleaner creeks, cleaner rivers, and cleaner oceans; healthier soil, plant, and animal communities; and all these things are beneficial for people. Clean water remains one of the most fundamental human needs.
With the arrival of autumn rains, it’s a good time to start planning with friends and neighbours about how to put water back in the ground where it belongs. Low-cost rain gardens are a simple and effective way to work with nature right in your own yard.
Visit the City of Victoria Demonstration Rain Gardens on the north end of Trent off Fort Street, just before the St. Patrick’s School parking lot adjacent to Bowker Creek.
More information may be found at the library and on the Internet. For more about community-based solutions to urban run-off, see www.UrbanRaincatchersGazette.ca.
If you are inspired by the potential of rain gardens (and other “green infrastructure”) please contact your elected representatives and urge them to investigate, plan for, and build rain gardens; especially in locations where the benefits will be most significant. Write to Mayor and Council, City of Victoria, One Centennial Square, Victoria, BC V8W 1P6
Editor's note: Learn how you can design and build a rain garden in your yard at Seedy Saturday (Feb 20th, Victoria Conference Centre, 10-4), Lise Townsend of Greenway Consulting will give a 10:15 lecture on Rain Garden Basics
BY CATHERINE STONE © 2009
(Fernwood Vibe Fall 2009 - posted with author's permission)
The City of Victoria rain gardens on Trent Street demonstrate simple and effective low-cost stormwater management principles that apply to public infrastructure as well as to the collection and slow infiltration of rainwater from your roof. Rain garden principles yield clean water, control flooding, and approximate natural processes.
At first sight the rain gardens simply appear to be planted curbsides bordered with strawberries. Look closely and you discover deep, flat-bottomed ditches; landscaped and enclosed except for intakes to capture run-off from the entire length of Trent Street. Included with the plants are “creek beds” of carefully placed smooth stones that serve to diffuse the flow of incoming storm water.
These rain gardens are temporary retaining ponds that allow accumulated stormwater to seep through the earth into nearby Bowker Creek, preventing large volumes of dirty water from directly entering the waterway. Each garden is fitted with an overflow connected to the big pipe storm sewer for drainage if inflows should exceed capacity.
Roots of selected water-tolerant grasses, hardy shrubs and trees hold the dirt in place and support communities of soil microbes that contribute to purifying the runoff before it flows underground to join the creek.
Retaining runoff and slowly releasing filtered water protects waterways from uncontrolled deluges of dirty water. Cleansing by the community of soil microorganisms and the process of soil filtration before the water travels underground to merge with the Creek is an obvious benefit. Clean water leads to a cleaner Bowker Creek, and that leads to a cleaner Oak Bay (in this case referring to the bay on the ocean, though the downstream municipality also benefits).
Rain gardens reduce water volume in the storm sewer system, an invaluable service during events when the combination of saltwater storm surges and rainfall inundation causes flooding. In turn, flooding causes public health risks and problems with water quality, expense, and unwanted effort and inconvenience.
Flooding along Bowker Creek might become a rare event if the simple principles of rain gardens were applied in sufficient numbers of effective locations. To that end, rain gardens in our yards will hold, absorb and slowly release rainwater from roofs and paved surfaces, and greatly reduce the stormwater effect originating from each of our homes. Action by folks living upstream of flood-prone areas will have a most important effect. A community spirit based on the fact that we’re all in this together is clearly essential.
Many European countries, and some places in Canada and the USA, successfully use rain gardens as both alternatives and supplements to conventional big pipe infrastructure common throughout North America. The small town where I used to live took long-range planning very seriously in the 1980s and purchased as many undeveloped natural drainage areas as possible. These are nature’s own rain gardens on a grand scale. Human intervention is generally unneeded as forces of nature guide the general flow of water toward these natural swales.
Victoria’s natural swales that have been drained, filled, or covered over are no longer available to perform their original functions. Rain gardens can compensate for the loss of functional natural drainage areas, especially during heavy or extended rains when stormwater infrastructure is inadequate to contend with today’s volumes of urban run-off.
A visible flow of water is highly effective for motivating people to learn more about stormwater management and water quality. That was the result several years ago when I first toured the High Point Redevelopment in Seattle, and it sparked enough interest and passion to write this article for you. Underground water is invisible. Rain gardens gather water on the surface where we can see it for a while.
Even when dry, a rain garden visually reminds us of flowing water and continues to offer shade, habitat, and food (nuts, seeds, and berries). Roots hold water in the soil year round.
Rain garden strategies lead to cleaner creeks, cleaner rivers, and cleaner oceans; healthier soil, plant, and animal communities; and all these things are beneficial for people. Clean water remains one of the most fundamental human needs.
With the arrival of autumn rains, it’s a good time to start planning with friends and neighbours about how to put water back in the ground where it belongs. Low-cost rain gardens are a simple and effective way to work with nature right in your own yard.
Visit the City of Victoria Demonstration Rain Gardens on the north end of Trent off Fort Street, just before the St. Patrick’s School parking lot adjacent to Bowker Creek.
More information may be found at the library and on the Internet. For more about community-based solutions to urban run-off, see www.UrbanRaincatchersGazette.ca.
If you are inspired by the potential of rain gardens (and other “green infrastructure”) please contact your elected representatives and urge them to investigate, plan for, and build rain gardens; especially in locations where the benefits will be most significant. Write to Mayor and Council, City of Victoria, One Centennial Square, Victoria, BC V8W 1P6
Editor's note: Learn how you can design and build a rain garden in your yard at Seedy Saturday (Feb 20th, Victoria Conference Centre, 10-4), Lise Townsend of Greenway Consulting will give a 10:15 lecture on Rain Garden Basics