Rain Gardens Reign in Kansas CIty, Missouri

According to a feature article by Margaret Buranen in the May 2008 issue of Stormwater Magazine, “Rain gardens may have started in Maryland and been developed in Maplewood and Burnsville, MN, but it was Kansas City, MO, that put them on the map of public awareness. If, as Rodgers and Hammerstein told us in their musical Oklahoma!, “Everything’s up to date in Kansas City,” the 10,000 Rain Gardens project there is on the cutting edge of stormwater management.”

The idea for the 10,000 Rain Gardens Project came from a Stormwater Coordinating Commttee meeting in May 2005. Officials believe there are more than 1000 rain gardens now in place. A new program will give owners an incentive to register their rain gardens so the count is accurate. The program's goal is 10,000 rain gardens in five years, by 2010.

Influenced by the efforts in Kansas City and other cities, the article reports that community rain garden programs are starting in many locations. A number of these are described in the article, including: the Mt. Airy section of Cincinnati, Ohio; Muncie, Indiana; Ipswich, Massachesetts; Port Angeles, Washington; Lexington, Kentucky; and Portland, Oregon

Acknowledgment:

Before STORMWATER, The Journal for Surface Water Quality Professionals, there was no single publication written specifically for  the professional involved with surface water quality issues, protection, projects, and programs.

Posted July 2008