Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District 64th Annual Banquet & Supervisors’ Election

October 21, 2010

Rain Gardens: A Partnership Neighborhood Project

Strategic Planning & Inspiration

Photos: Courtesy of Mom

Strategic Planning & Inspiration

Photo: from www.soil.ncsu.edu

Fires occurred on the Cuyahoga River in 1868, 1883, 1887, 1912, 1922, 1936, 1941, 1948, 1952, & 1969. Photo from Ohio Historical Society website.

Hugh Hammond Bennett Cuyahoga River fire of 1952

Inspiration for this project

Photos from www.burnsville.org

Burnsville, MN Rain Garden Project

• Water quality• Water quantity

Higher water temperatures and changes in extremes, including floods and droughts, are

projected to affect water quality and exacerbate many forms of water pollution…

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Technical Paper on Climate Change and Water,

April 2008

Why rain gardens?

• Aesthetics• Wildlife habitat

Rain Garden Stats

• 2006: Installed demo rain garden at ODNR Div. of Wildlife (only 3 other known rain gardens in central Ohio at the time)

• Oct. 2007: CORGI formed• End of 2008:

– 23 rain gardens in Franklin County– Collecting 800,000 gallons of storm water annually

• Today:– 146 rain gardens in Franklin County – Collecting 9,680,000 gallons of storm water annually

Rain Garden Stats

21The Brook Run project has added rain gardens, collecting gallons of

storm water per year!2,700,000

Partners

• Grant partners: Franklin Soil and Water, CORGI, Westerville, OSU, Watershed Organic, Ohio EPA OEEF, and OWDA

Pictured: OSU students Phil Cherosky & Kevin White and OSU President Gordon Gee

Franklin Soil and WaterFranklin County CommissionersFranklin County Master GardenersHeart of Ohio RC&D CouncilNRCSCity of ColumbusCity of DelawareCity of DublinCity of GahannaCity of Grove CityCity of MarysvilleCity of WestervilleMORPC

BBC&M EngineeringMalcolm PirnieTetra TechUrban WildURS Corp.Williams Creek ConsultingBrown and CaldwellSierra Club, Ohio ChapterFriends of the Lower Olentangy WatershedFriends of Alum Creek and Tributaries

CORGI Members

Partners

Our Brook Run residents:

Ms. Lacy Ms. Pospichel

Mr. & Mrs. Jefferson Mr. & Mrs. Neff

Mr. & Mrs. Greenman Mr. & Mrs. Bonds

Mr. & Mrs. Murray Mr. & Mrs. Zuk

Mr. & Mrs. Dickerson Mr. & Mrs. Burnam

Mr. & Mrs. Dennis Mr. Dennis

Mr. & Mrs. Reynolds Mr. & Mrs. Roach

Mr. Prickett & Mr. Habeggar Mr. D’Costa

OEEF portion

• Created 5,000 brochures & printed 10,000 more

• Launched website

• Educational workshops in 4 neighborhoods

• Chose 1 neighborhood

• Outreach through media & presentations

• Installed 16 residential rain gardens

• Monitoring storm water runoff quantity

OWDA portion

• Control & experimental neighborhood

• Installed 5 right-of-way rain gardens

• Sampling wells

• Monitoring storm water runoff quantity

• Modeling predictions to help communities

Residential installations

Residential gardens

Residential gardens

Right of way installations

Right of way gardens

Monitoring equipment

What this means

10,000,000 gallons of storm water:

• Improving stream health

• Lowering flooding potentials

• Examples for landowners, municipalities, technical professionals, & local organizations

• Improving ground water

• Improving aesthetics

• Creating habitat

Opportunities

• Cost-share programs for rain gardens:– Canal Winchester– Gahanna– Grove City– Westerville

• Technical assistance

• Become a member of CORGI!

Thank You!

Photo: www.darbycreeks.org Photo: ©CL EvansPhoto: from Flower Calendar