First rain garden of its kind built in Shoreview
Quad Community Press - Nicholas Backus
"I want my 2-year-old to be able to swim in the lakes," Shoreview mom says. By Nicholas Backus Staff Writer Published: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 11:40 AM CDT SHOREVIEW – Dawn Pape wants her 2-year-old to one day be able to swim in the lakes.
With more and more Twin Cities lakes ending up on impaired waters lists, and numerous city beaches being closed due to unsafe pollution levels, it's not a stretch to think area lakes might be too polluted, or too green with algae, to swim in one day. Last week, beachgoers in Qingdao, China were photographed swimming in a solid sea of green muck caused by excess levels of phosphorus and other fertilizer chemicals.
So Pape decided, as a member of the Rice Creek Watershed District, to put her money where her mouth is. She and her family built Shoreview's first curb-cut rain garden in her front yard. A curb-cut rain garden doesn't only collect water from rooftops and driveways, but also from the street, which helps to collect runoff from neighboring properties during storm events.
“Runoff is the number one cause of water pollution in area lakes,” said Pape, who has worked at RCWD for seven years promoting the district's rain garden cost-share program.
Through RCWD program bluethumb.org, residents of the district can find help on how to build their own rain gardens. The district will even share half the cost of garden excavation and planting.
“If you wonder what it's like for someone who goes through the process of building a rain garden, it's actually quite painless,” Pape said, who designed her own garden, but had others do the digging. “If we change our actions just a little bit we can improve water quality.”
Rain gardens act as stormwater filtration systems. Collected water infiltrates the garden and is filtered of chemicals and excess nutrients before returning to the nearest lake or river. Gardens take about five hours to drain after heavy rains, Pape said. Water from Pape's rain garden flows south to a wetland, then east to Ramsey County Ditch 8 and north to Rice Creek, she said.
Pape said rain gardens are cost-effective and better for water quality over the long run. She likened it as a preventable measure versus lake quality cures like alum treatments and other oftentimes pricey lake cleaning methods.
“Caring for our lakes is a lot like caring for our own health,” she said. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Pape was reimbursed about $1500 in costs after finishing her garden, meaning a total cost of around $3000, but she also added aesthetic flair with retaining walls, which aren't covered under the cost-share program.
The construction of the garden also helped her get to know more neighbors. Anyone who came by during the few days of construction couldn't help but ask her what she was doing.
“If you want a little neighborhood attention, dig a raingarden in your front yard,” she joked.
Other ways residents can help keep water clean is through mowing and/or sweeping grass clippings toward yards. Grass is loaded with algae-causing phosphorus, and Pape said it might be the single most important thing homeowners can do to preserve water quality.
For more stories on water quality and the best ways to conserve it, visit www.presspubs.com and search our archives.
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Pape enjoys talking and educating about her rain garden. Questions? Need tips? Just want to see the garden? Call Pape at 763-398-3078.
Nicholas Backus can be reached at quadnews@presspubs.com, 651-407-1235 or on Facebook keyword “Quad Community Press."
Posted: August 3, 2011