10,000 Rain Gardens

An opportunity for the future

Clean water is important to each of us as individuals, but water quality is also a regional concern. And 10,000 Rain Gardens is a regional effort dedicated to educating citizens about what each of us does to improve water quality and manage stormwater on personal and community property.

Citizens play a key role when they work to understand the challenges of our outdated sewer system and implement tools such as rain gardens and rain barrels. These efforts combined with commercial-sized green solutions yield a powerful cumulative effect in reducing flooding, erosion and pollutants in our rivers and streams. Working together, we will improve water quality and make a difference now and for the future.

Diverting water from your downspout into rainwater catchment systems has several advantages:

1. Reduces the volume of water flowing to the sewer treatment facility
2. Lowers the percentage of roof top rainfall as a component of urban runoff
3. Backup source of water during times of drought or between rain showers
4. Helps to keep our creeks and beaches clean
5. Naturally softened water - great for delicate houseplants, auto cleaning and window washing
6. Saves money by lowering your water bill
7. Reduces the need for additional tax dollars earmarked for sewer expansion
8. Chlorine-free water helps maintain a healthy biotic community in the soil
9. Educational tool for teaching residents about water conservation

Residential irrigation accounts for up to 40% of domestic water consumption in a given municipality. Rain barrels capture and store water for later use.

Rain water is "soft water." It contains no chlorine, lime or calcium and fewer sediments and dissolved salts than municipal water. It is ideal for watering vegetable gardens, raised planter beds and containers or indoor tropical plants like ferns and orchids. Rain water is perfect for automobile washing and cleaning household windows.

Rain Barrels and Rain Garden Plants