Rain gardens a great way to conserve water

Rain gardens a great way to conserve water

By ELENA GRIMM - Chronicle News Groupday, more than 700 gallons of water will run off the average roof with every inch of rainfall – enough to fill 14 bathtubs.
That is the message that the DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District wants to get out. The district recently held a workshop on how to set up rain gardens, which are shallow, landscaped areas planted with wildflowers and other native plants that soak up rain water from a building’s roof.
Also, the SWCD is continuing to sell rain barrels – large, mosquito-proof containers placed under downspouts, collecting rainwater to nourish gardens and lawns, and even to wash cars and pets.
The benefits of rain are many, local conservationists say.
“The rainwater offers more nutrients for plants,” said Dean Johnson, a resource conservationist for the SWCD. “There’s no fluoride or other additives like city water has.”
The benefits can be felt in one’s pocketbook, too, as landscape watering accounts for about 40 percent of a total water bill, according to the SWCD.
But one of the greatest benefits of rain barrels and rain gardens is that they reduce the amount of stormwater runoff – thus mitigating flooding problems and water pollution from pet waste, lawn chemicals and motor fuel that is eventually carried into rivers and lakes.
The need for diverting stormwater is becoming more apparent as development continues.
A typical city block generates five times the amount of runoff that a woodland area of the same size would, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This is because impervious surfaces – like buildings and parking lots – prevent precipitation from naturally soaking into the ground.
And when manmade stormwater systems are overwhelmed by a heavy rainfall, flooding can result, said Ron Johnson, a master gardener with the University of Illinois DeKalb County Extension.
The DeKalb Area Women’s Center is in the beginning stages of creating a rain garden. Not only will it relieve some burden from the neighborhood’s old storm sewers, but director Anna Marie Coveny hopes it will beautify the entire neighborhood.
“Plants in rain gardens, they can be very beautiful native plants,” Ron Johnson said. “You end up with a beautiful garden and it’s low maintenance, and plus you’re doing Earth a favor by preventing all of this stormwater runoff and flood damage.”
Coveny is inviting anyone – especially people interested in creating their own rain gardens – to help build the garden.
“The experimenting is done here,” Coveny said. “We hope to treat it like an outdoor classroom so people can learn how to do a rain garden.”
The first step in building a rain garden is to pick a location, Ron Johnson said. It shouldn’t be the lowest spot in the yard, but an area where standing water leaves after five days so as not to invite mosquitoes to use it as a nesting ground, he said.
Then, you’ll want to determine your soil type and how permeable it is, he said. Sandy soil is ideal because it drains more quickly.