The Bluegrass Rain Garden Alliance expects that rain gardens soon will be sprouting up on corporate, government and residential properties all over the Bluegrass with the help of a grant to establish the "2010 Rain Gardens by 2010" initiative.
This partnership of private businesses and community organizations was established so that corporate and private citizens could work together to improve the problem of flooding and pollution from storm water runoff. "2010 Rain Gardens by 2010" is modeled on successful programs in other communities, such as Kansas City's "10,000 Rain Gardens" and the "Mt. Airy Raincatchers" in the Cincinnati suburb.
Rain gardens are low maintenance shallow depressions filled with drought-tolerant native plants. They are planted at the edges of parking lots, yards or beneath the downspouts of gutters creating a beautiful space while trapping storm runoff, a possibly vital necessity as the EPA Consent Decree with LFUCG calls for an impervious surface fee that could hit hard for local businesses with large rooftops and parking lots.
The best part of this initiative is that "we are all working together to make a difference for the water quality of Lexington," said Carol Hanley, director of Education and Communications at UK's Tracy Farmer Center for the Environment, an Alliance member.
Along with encouraging Lexington residents to install rain gardens and showing them how to do so, the Bluegrass Alliance - made of entities such as Lexmark, Blue Grass Partnership for a Green Community, UK's Tracy Farmer Center, LFUCG, BlueGrass Pride, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, EcoGro and CDP Engineers - maintains an online registry. The owner of each private or corporate rain garden so registered will receive a sign with his garden's official number in the list of 2,010 gardens.
Rain garden #1 of Lexington's 2,010 rain gardens to be is at the Coca Cola Bottling Company. Created by Russ Turpin of EcoGro and dedicated on September 24, this 3,000-square-foot rain garden is in the shape of a bottle of Coke.
While new to Lexington, rain gardens have been popular since the 1990s in Massachusetts, Minnesota and other states. Cities with heavy rainfall and the subsequent runoff that causes storm sewer system overflow, such as Portland, Oregon, promote their use extensively.
Rain gardens "can be put in a lot of different places to fit different spaces and use many kinds of native plants," Hanley said.
Rain gardens have been proven to help the environment by lessening or even alleviating flooding from storm-water runoff after hard rains. As Lexington, like every city, has grown, the amount of its impervious surface has increased. Streets, parking lots, driveways and rooftops can't absorb a drop of water. What falls on them flows into the storm water sewer system. The harder the rainfall, the more likely that system will overflow.
Rain gardens also help a community have cleaner water. The rainwater that isn't absorbed by the plants infiltrates into the ground. As this groundwater gradually flows back through the earth, the pollutants it carries from motor oil, fertilizers, animal waste and chemicals are removed. When the groundwater reaches the major tributaries of the area's watershed it has been naturally cleaned.
Economics is another reason to install a rain garden. So called "rain taxes" will be assessed on the amount of impervious surface -driveways, parking lots, rooftops, patios - on a property. A rain garden is not only a soft surface, it is actively combating the negative effects of storm water runoff. That translates to a lower sewer bill for the property owner.
The Bluegrass Rain Garden Alliance will hold workshops on installing rain gardens on October 15 and 17, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., at the Good Foods Coop and Oleika Temple in Southland. Registration is free, but limited to the first 50 people to sign up. For more information, see the Alliance's Web site. This project is funded by grants and contributions from the Kentucky American Water Company, LFUCG, the Southland Association, CDP Engineers, EcoGro, Friends of Wolf Run and the Alliance.
To learn more about rain gardens, check the Web sites www.BluegrassRainGardenAlliance.org, www.rainkc.com, or www.Stormh2o.com (then click on "May" in past issues link, then "Rain Gardens Reign.")