Project Completed Spring 2008
The Watershed Committee has partnered with a local Sierra Club to construct a Rain Garden at Valley Water Mill Park. This project will aid in preventing stormwater runoff from entering Valley Water Mill Lake. Rain Gardens are desinged to slow down, capture and absorb water using elements similar to those in nature: plants, rocks, shallow swales and depressions that hold water temporarily rather than let it quickly run away. Rain Gardens will reduce drainage and flooding problems, keep pollutants out of the nearby streams, rivers and lakes and bring beauty and wildlife to the landscape.
There are two kinds of rain gardens: wet and dry. The wet rain garden holds water almost all of the time. The rain garden at Valley Water Mill is a dry rain garden and most water is absorbed within 48 hours…too soon for mosquito larvae to hatch. Wildlife prefers locally grown native plants. If you plant a rain garden, be sure to buy plants native to Missouri.