Natural Stormwater Solutions

Lincoln, RI – BETA Group, Inc. recently worked with two New England communities to improve stormwater and drainage issues with the use of rain gardens. Amanda Sloan, a Landscape Architect at BETA, offered her time and expertise to lead the efforts for both projects. With over 20 years of experience in landscape architecture and a passion for educating others about the benefits of such solutions, she is a specialist both in rain gardens and in community outreach.

As a result of Ms. Sloan’s past rain garden work, BETA was approached by Thundermist Task Force, an organization that supports community projects which improve water quality in and around Woonsocket, to create a rain garden at the St. Charles Borromeo Church. The year-long project included team meetings, site visits, conceptual design, and procurement of materials, plants, contractors, and construction volunteers.

Ms. Sloan assessed placement of the rain garden on the site from the standpoints of aesthetics, neighborhood appeal, existing plantings and utilities, and stormwater runoff from the expansive church roof and adjacent paving. The first step in designing such a rain garden is sizing it and locating it properly. Sloan calculates rain garden size according to a specific formula that takes into account the soil type, amount of stormwater runoff expected, and temporary ponding depth of the planned rain garden. Rain gardens are designed according to state Stormwater Guidelines, including inclusion of a pre-filtration forebay, use of a custom soil mix, and use of suitable native plants.

After those elements are in place, the artistic elements that make the garden beautiful and appealing can be designed. For this rain garden, Sloan used iconography of Saint Charles Borromeo. She says, “The emblem of Saint Charles Borromeo is humility, which is signified by the color white. Hence, this is a white-flowering garden by choice.”

Located at the rear of the historic church, it combines a beautiful contemplative spot with a functional accommodation for stormwater. Shaped like a bowl set in the earth, the garden sits quietly by the church walls under the protection of the two existing flowering shade trees. It provides a place for reading, study, observation, prayer, music, and many other activities. A planned interpretive sign about stormwater and the flora and fauna that inhabit rain gardens will add an educational element.

“All rain gardens are designed to drain completely within 72 hours, so that standing water, which can breed mosquitos, will not be a problem,” Sloan notes. “The stormwater is cleansed by the planting medium and infiltrates through the bottom of the rain garden into the natural aquifers below ground. Upkeep for a rain garden is similar to that of a regular garden bed.”

BETA donated about half of the design cost of this churchyard rain garden, and BETA employees were among the volunteers helping at the planting weekend in May 2015.

When another similar project was proposed in Sharon, Massachusetts, Ms. Sloan eagerly stepped up to the challenge and helped students from the Binah School create a civic rain garden in Sharon’s town center. Each year the young women of the new and progressive Orthodox Jewish High School engage in a community project that combines science, the arts, and community service. The school’s theme for this year was “Water and Transformation.” As part of their study of the need for clean water all around the world, the students decided to build a rain garden in their town. They had heard of Sloan’s rain garden work with BETA through the local garden club, and turned to her for assistance.

These enthusiastic and creative students took weekly classes with Ms. Sloan through the winter of 2014-15 to learn about garden design, rain gardens, and plants, and to begin designing their garden. The Sharon Historical Society offered a location at its front entry because it receives stormwater runoff from their building’s roof and from an adjacent town parking lot. The students visited an existing rain garden built by Sloan, and visited the proposed site for analysis. They built models of rain gardens, developed sketch plans, and selected plants. After holding a community meeting with members of the Historical Society, a nearby preschool, and the Sharon Public Library to share ideas about the rain garden, they created a successful Kickstarter campaign to help fund the rain garden.

Sloan pulled together their ideas into a buildable design including a native plant rain garden, a reading circle, bench, arbor, rain chain (a sculptural take on a gutter spout) and accessible pathway through the garden leading from handicap-accessible parking spaces in the parking lot. With the assistance and donations from the Sharon DPW (materials), Grow Native Massachusetts (plants), and most notably A Yard and a Half Landscaping (a full day’s construction), the garden was created in May 2015.

This beautiful new addition to the town center will catch, clean and infiltrate to the local aquifer a significant amount of stormwater that would otherwise flow into a storm drain and be piped to local waterways such as the Neponset River. It will provide habitat for butterflies, bees, and other animals; and a place for children to be read to and for strollers to stop and rest. In addition, it will attract new visitors to the Historical Society.

BETA has worked with many communities on the education and implementation of natural stormwater solutions and will continue to do so as regulations become increasingly stringent. Rain gardens not only beautify a neighborhood, but can markedly improve stormwater and drainage problems on selected sites, while bringing communities together in a common shared purpose.

To find out how your community can benefit from natural stormwater solutions, contact Christine King at cking@beta-inc.com.