Neighbors working together block-by-block

When a community joins together, the sum of their rain gardens is often worth more than the parts. Community rain gardens can take many forms, but often will exist in park strips between the sidewalk or yards and the street. They can also be built adjacent to parking lots or in parks.

Community rain gardens not only add natural beauty to your neighborhood, they perform a valuable service in reducing polluted runoff that can contribute to flooding. Just like rain gardens at your home, or school, community rain gardens can provide habitat for bees, birds, butterflies and other wildlife too.

Building a community rain garden can help your city meet stormwater permit requirements by:

• Controlling runoff from development.
• Increasing public involvement, outreach and education.
• Promoting environmental activities.
• Detecting / eliminating illicit or illegal discharges.

 

In recent years, community clusters of rain gardens have been installed in the cities of Puyallup, Eatonville, Tacoma, Burien, Kirkland, Seattle and Everett, among others. These rain gardens have revitalized communities and stopped flooding on homeowners’ property, all while keeping large amounts of pollution out of our streams, lakes, and Puget Sound.