Radnor Receives WREN Grant for Rain Garden at Township Building

The following was provided to Patch:

The Radnor Township Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) has been awarded a $3,000 grant from the Water Resources Education Network (WREN), a project of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen Education Fund, for its project titled: Township Building Educational Rain Garden Construction and Workshop. The funding will support educational workshops and signs as well as demonstration projects for residents of the Township to learn how to reduce polluted runoff and help control storm water.

The EAC is working with a number of partners: Radnor Township; Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership (Villanova University); Audubon Pennsylvania; Darby Creek Valley Association; The Radnor Conservancy; Radnor Bird Town; Memorial Library of Radnor Township; Chanticleer, a Pleasure Garden; and the Wayne Art Center. The coalition will conduct a workshop on March 14, 2015, to teach homeowners how to install and maintain a rain garden. A rain garden is an area designed to capture storm water and planted with native plants to help filter the water while creating an inviting habitat for beneficial insects and birds. The group hopes to encourage residents to install simple rain gardens to help filter pollution out of storm water runoff and protect our streams.

The coalition will also build a demonstration rain garden at the Radnor Township Municipal Building. Signs will help explain how the rain garden works. Pamphlets describing rain garden basics and the value of planting easy-to-maintain native plants will be available at locations throughout the Township, particularly at the partner organizations.

“Radnor Township has a storm water problem, and we need to fight that problem every way we can,” said Anne Poulin, project co-chair. “We hope everyone will do their part. Every yard has room for a rain garden, and even a small rain garden helps reduce polluted runoff. A rain garden absorbs water into the ground like a sponge, and the plants filter out the pollution. At the same time, a rain garden planted with native plants provides beauty in the landscape and attracts butterflies and birds.”

The demonstration sites will be located at the Township Building. The Township Building sits above Ithan Creek, and all the runoff from the paved area around the building drains into the Creek. A rain garden to catch and filter runoff will help protect the Creek. The Creek is part of the Darby Creek Watershed; the water in the Creek joins other creeks in the watershed and, in the end, drains into the Delaware River. The watershed is a densely populated area, home to approximately 500,000 people. The area is also heavily paved. As a result, the ground does not absorb all the rain water. When it rains, much of the rainfall runs off into streams. The streams can then rise quickly and flood. This process pollutes the streams, erodes stream banks, and makes it hard for plants, fish, and beneficial insects to survive. “Rain gardens are an affordable and easy-to-maintain way for homeowners to help keep our water clean,” continued Ms. Poulin.

This project has been made possible through a Community Watershed Education Grant awarded by the Water Resources Education Network (WREN), a project of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen Education Fund. Grant funding is through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Nonpoint Source Management Program and Section 319 of the Federal Clean Water Act, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency.

How can you help reduce water pollution? Every drop of rain you keep on your property helps keep our local waters clean. You can make a difference by installing rain barrels, adding a rain garden, planting trees, and learning more about the problem and the solutions. You can also help make sure there is enough clean water by picking up pet waste, properly disposing of household chemicals such as paints and cleaning supplies, sweeping driveways and sidewalks instead of hosing them, and washing cars at car wash facilities or on lawns rather than in driveways where the water will run off into local streams.