A new rain garden is bringing the local community together while improving New Jersey's water quality. The Village Green reported that the town of South Orange unveiled its new rain garden, a project that will play a crucial role in stormwater management.
Located behind the town's middle school, the rain garden has become a source of environmental education and awareness. Students have had the opportunity to monitor the amount of water the rain garden captures, learning how to use different equipment.
"Last year, during the Rahway River Project, we learned that when it rains, water runs off our parking lot and roads and takes pollution straight into the river," eighth-grade student Emma Aylward told The Village Green. "This garden is a solution. It's not just pretty plants — it's a living filter."
South Orange's new rain garden will help protect the Rahway River from storm runoff and flooding. According to The Village Green, the garden will be able to collect about 250,000 gallons of stormwater runoff over the course of the year.
"The rain garden will intercept this runoff and allow most of it to soak into the ground, capturing the pollution, with the cleaned water flowing slowly through the ground into the river," Kirk Barrett, president of the Rahway River Watershed Association and the engineer for the rain garden, told The Village Green. "We are installing instruments to monitor water depth. Students from SOMS and CHS will help with data retrieval and analysis to determine what volume of runoff is captured."
The rain garden also serves as a prime example of sustainable lawn design for residents in the community, Environmental Commission secretary Andy Stone noted. Installing a rain garden in your own backyard is a great way to prevent flooding and reduce lawn maintenance.
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Other ways you can promote the local environment while saving money on yard upkeep are by growing native plants. Native plants act as natural filters, absorbing stormwater runoff, filtering out pollutants, and preventing erosion.
Native plants thrive in the local environment, so they need little water and don't need much fertilizer. As a result, you can save up to $225 on water and $100 on fertilizers and pesticides each year. Even a partial lawn replacement can allow you to reap some of these benefits.
Community members in South Orange continued to discuss the project's success and their hopes for its future impact.
"I tend to be more philosophical. All life begins in water so this rain garden is so special to our environment," council member Olivia Lewis-Chang said at the rain garden's unveiling. "I ask that you talk to your children and grandchildren and begin to mentor the next generation of environmentalists."
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