Village Encourages Residents to ‘Go Green’ with Rain Garden Workshop

The Village of Romeoville, in conjunction with The Conservation Foundation, will host a free workshop on rain gardens at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 23, at Village Hall, 1050 West Romeo Road.  

The presenter will be Jim Kleinwachter, land protection specialist for The Conservation Foundation, a not-for-profit land and watershed protection organization dedicated to preserving and restoring natural areas and open space, protecting rivers and watersheds, and promoting stewardship of the environment. The group is headquartered in Naperville.

The Conservation Foundation warns that many streams in northeastern Illinois are adversely affected by pollutants carried in rainwater runoff in urban landscapes.

“Non-source pollutants from our yards include excess nutrients and pesticides from lawn chemicals and pet waste,” the foundation writes on its website. “Not only are the pollutants harmful to our streams, but the large amount of water that rushes through the storm sewers and into the streams erodes banks and causes downstream flooding. Rain gardens filter this water through the native plants deep roots system into the ground rather than rush into the streams.”

But when homeowners plant rain gardens in their yards, rainwater runoff from rooftops and other impervious surfaces is allowed to seep naturally into the ground, rather than flowing unfiltered into municipal stormwater systems and nearby creeks and rivers.

At the May 23 rain garden workshop, Kleinwachter will teach Romeoville homeowners how to  beautify their yards by turning low, wet areas into functioning landscapes while creating habitats for birds and butterflies.

No registration is required for the free workshop, which is part of the village’s “Go Green” initiative.

For more information on the workshop contact Dawn Caldwell, assistant village administrator, at 815-886-0279 or visit the village’s online calendar by clicking here.