How Does Your Rain Garden Grow? by Phil Beebe

How Does Your Rain Garden Grow?

Whitely Neighborhood, Muncie, Indiana: Rain Garden Project

Upon receiving a Centers for Disease Control, Healthy People, Healthy Homes grant, the Muncie Sanitary District and Stormwater Management has focused on reducing health risks associated with ﬂooding in one of the City of Muncie, Indiana’s oldest neighborhoods, the Whitely Neighborhood.

The next three years included water quality monitoring, public education, neighborhood relationship building, rain barrel workshops, large community rain garden installation and ﬁnally installation of 72 residential rain gardens. In this booklet you will see how the program went, have access to designs and instructions, look over photos and hear the City of Muncie’s hints and tips of what went well and what would be changed.

3 The Problem –Muncie’s Whitely Neighborhood history of ﬂooding and the project focus. 4-5 Project Timeline 6-7 Year 1 – Rain Barrels and Demonstration Rain Gardens 8-9 Year 2 - Installation of three large community Rain Gardens 10-11 Year 3 – 72 Residential Rain Gardens in six weeks 12-14 Water Quality Monitoring Results 15 Plusses and Minuses: What we would change and what we would keep the same 16 Special Thanks!

2 • How Does Your Rain Garden Grow? | Muncie Delaware Stormwater Management

The Problem REDUCING HEALTH RISK EXPOSURES FROM FLOODING IN MUNCIE, INDIANA

eighborhood flooding poses significant health risks to residents throughout the City of Muncie, Indiana. Many of Muncie’s neighborhoods have severe issues with flooding and standing water, particularly those neighborhoods that exhibit severe socio-economic distress. An intervention on the grassroots level was needed to reduce the health risks associated with standing water in Muncie’s underserved neighborhoods. Surface water runoff from streets, parking lots, yards and brownfields can carry chemical and biological pollutants with the potential to pose threats to human health on contact. When infiltration and removal is impaired, surface water runoff causes flooding resulting in standing water throughout residential neighborhoods. Standing water also has the potential to act as breeding grounds for water-borne disease vectors, such as mosquitoes. In many neighborhoods the lack of information and education about these health threats significantly elevates the exposure to these risks.

“The MDSWM hopes this project can serve as a model across the country where the resources for traditional stormwater practices are unavailable or unobtainable.”

Through this project, the Muncie Delaware Stormwater Management Department (MDSWM) addressed the inadequate infiltration of surface water by installing rain barrels and creating community rain gardens in a socio-economically distressed neighborhood. This project was designed to demonstrate an effective method of reducing a significant environmental risk factor to increase the health of the neighborhood population. Rain barrels have proven to effectively hold back the first flush of a rainfall, therefore reducing flow that overwhelms stormwater systems and causes flooding, the water then can be used in the future by the homeowner. Rain gardens can address environmental issues that conventional stormwater management systems are unable to mitigate. Rain gardens control stormwater volume and enhance groundwater recharge, but they can also reduce pollutant loads by trapping and degrading pollutants. The long-term, overarching goal and purpose of this project was to incorporate low-cost community interventions to more effectively manage environmental health risks that stem from surface water runoff, flooding and standing water in the City of Muncie, Indiana. This project planned to investigate the effectiveness of rain gardens in reducing environmental health risks in Muncie, the effectiveness of an inter-agency partnership to successfully create a community intervention, and the potential for replication of the neighborhood rain garden model throughout the City of Muncie, Indiana. The MDSWM hopes this project can serve as a model across the country where the resources for traditional stormwater practices are unavailable or unobtainable. Water quality improvements within the immediate vicinity of the rain gardens have been assessed, as well as the overall water quality impact on major waterways within the city, in order to determine the reduction of health risk exposures in the target community. Major expected outcomes include reduced environmental health risks associated with flooding, raised awareness, improved communication and information flow between local agencies, and more effective stormwater and flood management improving the public and environmental health in Muncie, Indiana.

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MUNCIE PROJ ��

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JECT TIMELINE ��

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Year One October 2007-September 2008

“For over a year and a half, the local Pepsi disbribution warehouse donated over 1,000 consentrate barrels to the MDSWM for this project.”

The beginning The program plan for Preventing Health Risk Exposures by Reducing Flooding in Muncie Indiana under a Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Healthy People, Healthy Homes grant was to distribute 100 rain barrels to the Whitely Community and to plant a demonstration rain garden in year one. Year two included the planting of a large community rain garden. Year three activities include installation of 50 individual residential rain gardens in the Whitely Neighborhood. All three years include heavy community participation, neighborhood assistance and environmental education. Neighborhood buy-in and participation has been key to the success of this program. During the idea stage, prior to grant submittal, the Muncie Sanitary District reviewed neighborhoods in the community that would benefit from this program. Two neighborhoods were chosen and due to the active neighborhood association, the Whitely Community Council, the years of local health and social studies completed previously in the Whitely neighborhood and several other active groups in the area, the Whitely Community was chosen for this project. Starting in fall of 2007 the Muncie Delaware Stormwater Management Department (MDSWM) began meeting with neighborhood groups, the media and individuals that play a role in local government, the community and the environment. The department started attending all Whitely Community Council meetings and got actively involved in Motivate our Minds (MOM’s) and the Roy C. Buley Center, two local childcare development centers. Additionally the neighborhood is also the location of several Habitat for Humanity homes as well as a Habitat for Humanity ReStore. The ReStore accepts donations from contractors, builders and demolition sites. As items are left over on a home build or are removed from a demo, the ReStore stocks its shelves for resale at reduced prices. The funds from the ReStore then help build more Habitat Homes. The MDSWM and Habitat realized that it would be a perfect partnership for the future Habitat Homeowners to assist in making our rain barrels while working off their required service to Habitat. The partnership with Habitat then afforded MDSWM educational time with these future homeowners on the importance of water conservation and pollution prevention. The Department also began participating in yearly neighborhood clean-up programs, assisted the neighborhood association with installation of Do Not Litter signs and often became the link for the neighborhood to their government services, directing residents with questions to the correct department or following up with reported issues. The additional efforts in the neighborhood afforded the MDSWM opportunities to network with the residents, talk up the rain barrels and rain gardens and helped build a lasting relationship with the people of the community. Rain Barrels Originally, the program hoped to distribute around 100 rain barrels in the Whitely community. However, after the first rain barrel workshop held at the Habitat ReStore, it was clear that the entire county and beyond were interested in the barrels. The initial workshop brought in over 150 people and the decision was made to open the workshops and the barrels to anyone interested in the larger area of Delaware County, Indiana. The MDSWM matched the CDC grant funds to provide for a countywide program. The program took off! For over a year and a half the local Pepsi distribution warehouse donated over 1,000 consentrate barrels to the MDSWM for this project. A rain barrel plan and parts were found at www.aquabarrel.com. Over an 8 month period three part-time staffers were employed to assemble the barrels. Storage quickly became an issue and the MDSWM rented an empty warehouse to store and assemble the barrels. While barrel stock lasted, MDSWM distributed over 300 barrels in the Whitely Community and over 700 more barrels throughout the county. Still to this day, over two years later, the MDSWM still receives a minimum of three calls a week of people looking for more rain barrels. Our local university, Ball State University, even got the barrel fever! Several classes got involved in the program. For example , several wastewater classes put together fact sheets, calculated benefits and the students held one of the barrel workshops. A teacher’s education class did a rain barrel painting activity with the kids at MOM’s and those barrels were eventually installed on the MOM’s property. Another teacher’s education class held a painting competition with Ball State University’s Burris Laboratory School. Local radio celebrities and government officials judged the contest and the winning barrels were installed at Minnetrista Cultural Center in Muncie.

6 • How Does Your Rain Garden Grow? | Muncie Delaware Stormwater Management

Top left: A rain barrel workshop held at Minnetrista. Left: Burris Laboratory School Rain Barrel art winners. Above: A rain barrel that was painted to look like a wooden barrel by Toni Cecil.

The following can be found at www.rain gardenregistry.com: Rain Barrel Flyer* http://bit.ly/cGGoSE Rain Garden Flyer* http://bit.ly/bjb643 Rain Garden Designs* http://bit.ly/aEbliR * The above links are Tiny Urls to allow clickable linking from this magazine.

The final workshop for 2008 was held at Minnetrista Cultural Center during Garden Fair, a yearly festival for gardening enthusiasts. It was a stormy day, pouring rain with occasional tornado warnings. Over 200 people attended this workshop, under a tent, outdoors! Facts show that for each rain barrel you can hold back 55 gallons of rainwater from each rain during peak flow, use the water so that it soaks into the ground rather than running off and can help conserve on your water faucet usage. Theory shows that the benefits of a rain barrel far outweigh the facts. People that are willing to install a rain barrel will be reminded each time they use that barrel of doing their part for the environment and are more likely to recycle, install a rain garden or participate in other environmental programs in the future. Demonstration Rain Gardens The City of Muncie is lucky to have Spence Restoration Nursery in the area. MDSWM approached Spence with a request of a few residential rain garden designs, specific to our area. Spence put together five different rain garden designs for homeowners. The designs vary mostly by color: Yellow and Purple, Pink and Purple, Pink and White, Butterfly and a Shade rain garden. Residents can then choose which garden design they choose. The Whitely Neighborhood is bordered by McCulloch Park, Muncie’s oldest and largest public park. Along the northern entrance road the MDSWM installed one of each of the Spence garden designs. The idea of planting these demonstration gardens was so that during year three residents could easily drive by the gardens at McCulloch Park and choose which garden they would like installed in their yard.

7 • How Does Your Rain Garden Grow? | Muncie Delaware Stormwater Management

Year Two October 2008-September 2009

t the beginning of year 2, several public meetings were held with Whitely residents to gain their knowledge of local flooding and past drainage problems. Muncie Sanitary District sewer maintenance records were also reviewed for service calls in the area after past heavy rainfall. Additionally, documentation by MDSWM staff during year 1 of flooding issues were kept. The Whitely neighborhood showed definite areas that had repeated problems and a corridor through the grant area was established as a high priority area for stormwater management. Year 2 priorities included the planting of a large community rain garden. It was determined early on that costs for such rain gardens were much lower than originally anticipated. It was clear that there was not going to be one single area that was large enough for one community garden utilizing the amount of funds that were available. It was decided that we would plant three to four large gardens and began to narrow down the locations. Public properties were evaluated as well as business properties in the neighborhood. Three areas were chosen based on their ownership, willingness of the owners and effectiveness towards the goals of the MDSWM program.

Above: MOMs kids present Muncie Mayor Sharon McShurley with an origami ﬂower sign they made. Above right: McShurley plants ﬁrst plants at MOMs with MOM’s kids. Right::The MOM’s garden planting

Motivate our Minds project layout* http://bit.ly/9t53b9

Community Garden’s aerials and plant lists* http://bit.ly/9jeSdx

* The above links are Tiny Urls to allow clickable linking from this magazine.

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Community Rain Garden #1 Motivate our Minds (MOM’s) Rain Garden. MOM’s recently acquired a property next door to their main facility building. This property already had a culvert and small swale running north to south through the property. MOM’s however had hoped to use this property for parking and/or playground space for the youth. We felt the property could do both as well as serve as our first rain garden location. A “green” committee was formed for the development of this area. The committee included Rundell Ernstberger & Associates, Ball State University Landscape Architecture Department, MOM’s board members, Flatland Resources Inc., and MDSWM. A “green” plan was put together for the entire site which includes a porous parking lot, rain garden, playground with recycled materials equipment and a walkway bridge. Over $45,000 in private funding from local community foundations and student build classes at the university will match the CDC rain garden funds. The rain garden was installed in fall 2009; framing for the parking lot summer 2010 and paving will begin Sept. 2010. Fall 2010 Design to Built class will build and install the playground. Community Rain Garden #2 Longfellow Elementary School Rain Garden. Longfellow Elementary School is located near the northern project boundary and is surrounded on the East and South sides by Agricultural fields. The department has been working diligently with the farmer of the property and the Natural Resources Conservation Office to install filter strips along the farm ground as the inlets and storm sewer pipes that are in the area are filled with farm stubble and silt. Unfortunately the farmer has not agreed to date. A large drainage swale runs through two sides of the school property however has been planted with turf grass and mowed weekly. The worst flooding in the Whitely neighborhood exists just south of the school and farm. The MDSWM department met with facilities management and the principal of the school and proposed the garden as well as educational programs for the school. This upstream holding capacity will be of great benefit to the neighborhood. The school agreed and the Longfellow Garden was planted in fall of 2009. Community Rain Garden #3 Creekside Apartments Rain Garden. While the above two properties are government and not-for-profit owned, this property is privately held. Our intention was not to plant one of these large gardens on private property; however the location, water flow and the amazing landscaping maintenance already performed by Creekside Apartments convinced us this was a very worthy site. The site sits at the northern most project area and is bordered to the north by State Road 332 which runs through Muncie and to the east by Elgin Street which is also a largely traveled road. The large ditch that runs alongside these two roads is badly eroded. The apartment owners are more than happy to have this addition to their already lovely and lush landscaping and agreed to sign an easement with the Muncie Sanitary District to have the garden planted. Unfortunately underground culvert work under Elgin Street was also planned by the Muncie Sanitary District Engineering Department and easement acquisition of a neighbor has been delayed. This garden was planned for fall of 2009, however due to this sewer project has been put off until fall of 2010. The garden will serve to filter the stormwater, retain some of the water as well as is a very public location to show off the project and rain gardens in general. Year 2 also involved preparations for Year 3 individual rain garden plantings. The MDSWM continued its involvement in the Whitely neighborhood to further the citizen/government relationship. Assistance was given to the neighborhood again for its yearly neighborhood clean-up, participation at an urban vegetable garden planted and maintained by MOM’s, beautification at the Roy C Buley center and environmental education programs with the youth involved in both community centers. Outside of the Whitely neighborhood the department continued talking about rain gardens and rain barrels at public events and schools. During Year 2, due to the new interest in stormwater management and green infrastructure brought on by this project, the Mayor of Muncie requested the department be involved in re-landscaping the Muncie City Hall. As the site of City Hall is too small for rain retention, Flatland Resources was hired to design and plant a Xeriscape - a term that means dry landscape, or dryscape. City hall’s landscaping was replaced with thousands of droughttolerant native plants and prairie grasses that require relatively little water, fertilizer and pesticides. Lawn areas are also being scaled back and mulch added to reduce water usage.

9 • How Does Your Rain Garden Grow? | Muncie Delaware Stormwater Management

Year Three October 2009-September 2010

ear 3 began with an emphasis on signing up interested Whitely residents who would be interested in installing a rain garden on their property. The MDSWM estimates each rain garden will cost approximately $100.00 to install. The MDSWM received quotes from local landscaping companies for installation of the gardens as it was feared that some residents might not install the plants upon receipt and the plugs are very vulnerable while still in their containers. We felt that installation should be included. Installation quotes came in and it was determined that only 50 gardens could be installed. If the MDSWM could secure free installation, between 80 and 100 gardens could be installed. One staff member of MDSWM is a former AmeriCorps NCCC member and suggested the Muncie Sanitary District (MSD) apply for an AmeriCorps NCCC team for this project. Early 2010 the MSD applied and by March 2010 we were awarded a 10 member AmeriCorps NCCC team for a period of six weeks. As part of the AmeriCorps contract the local entity had to provide lodging and plenty of community service work. The Roy C Buley Center in the Whitely neighborhood was designated as their home base. Future Choices, a local not-for-profit, donated two furnished three bedroom apartments in the Whitely neighborhood and along the White River to house the NCCC team. It was planned that the team would work with local residents to gain permission as well as plant the gardens and educate the residents on maintenance. The team would also spend part of their day working with the youth at the Buley Center as part of the summer education program. The AmeriCorps NCCC Oak 4 team arrived April 29, 2010 and a cookout was held at the Buley Center to welcome the team to Muncie and introduce them to the residents of the neighborhood, local officials and youth at the Buley Center. During the next six weeks the Oak 4 team collectively spent over 2,547 hours serving the Whitely community. The team planted 5,680 seedlings in 72 rain gardens. Additionally the Oak 4 team supported 65 children in the summer education program, conducted two community days, one with the youth of the Buley Center to clean-up and beautify the center. The second community date held at their end of their time in Muncie was a follow-up meeting with the residents who had rain gardens that included a PowerPoint showing all the gardens, a maintenance lesson and free gardening tools for the residents to use in maintenance. Not only did the AmeriCorps NCCC crew make it possible to plant 72 rain gardens in the Whitely Neighborhood in a six week period, but they also benefited both the community center and the larger Muncie community in many ways. Additionally during Year 3, the MDSWM also participated again in the neighborhood clean-ups, added signage to the large community rain gardens and attended Whitely Community Council meetings. Due to the project winding down and the financials being examined, it has been determined that the project still has some funds that are not yet obligated. As of this publication one additional large rain garden location has been chosen and quotes for this garden are ongoing. The property chosen for this additional rain garden is directly adjacent to the MOM’s property to the south. The two lots are wooded and have a storm drain inlet at the southern end. The lots are already acting as a rain garden and the lots have adapted to wet, shady plants on their own. Tons of invasive plants cover the lots. MDSWM is considering invasive removal, tree identification and some minor plant addition to make this the fourth community rain garden in the neighborhood. Website and Online Book The vision for this book was born out of a staff member doing some online big box store shopping. Online catalogs and weekly ads are sometimes put into a flip book such as this. MDSWM investigated the companies that do these books for the large retail chains, however found them to be completely out of the question cost wise. The department works closely with our local newspaper, The Star Press, owned by Gannett. In discussion with the ad department it was discovered that The Star Press has the ability to do these awesome online booklets. So the MDSWM recruited the Star Press staff to complete this booklet with us and this booklet will remain online indefinitely. The Muncie Sanitary District and the Stormwater Management department both have an online presence; www.munciesanitary.org and www.wishthefish.com respectively. MDSWM wanted to give this large three year project a website of its own. As department staff have become familiar with and use Facebook in their private lives, MDSWM came up with the idea Rain Garden Registry, where citizens could register their gardens on a website, upload photos, return and upload more and that members could talk about their rain gardens, rain barrels and gardening in general. Rain Garden Registry was launched in fall of 2009. The site has had citizen registrations as far away as Washington State. A chat capability was not able to be done on our servers so we attached a Facebook Page so that members can chat and the department can post information as the project continues.

10 • How Does Your Rain Garden Grow? | Muncie Delaware Stormwater Management

Top: Americorps planting rain garden at Roy C Buley Center. Above: Project WET workshop with Americorps NCCC. Above right: Residential Rain Garden in Whitely.

Rain Garden Maintenance Brochure*

http://bit.ly/cfNsOe

“Not only did the AmeriCorps NCCC crew make it possible to plant 72 rain gardens in the Whitely Neighborhood in a six-week period, but they also beneﬁted both the community center and the larger Muncie community in many ways.”

Google map of Whitely Rain Gardens* http://bit.ly/9kyx88

Rain Garden Registry www.raingardenregistry.com

* The above links are Tiny Urls to allow clickable linking from this magazine.

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Water Quality Data Analysis

ne task of the project was to monitor and analyze water quality and biological data from the streams where storm water best management practices were implemented. The target area, the neighborhood of Whitely, has a stream called Holt Ditch running through it. Two water quality monitoring stations were established on Holt Ditch (upstream and downstream from the Whitely neighborhood). Samples were collected between March and October at both sites during 2008 and 2009. In addition, samples were collected at the downstream site during 2007 (before BMP implementation). A map of Bureau of Water Quality baseline sites and a map of CDC project monitoring sites are linked below. LINKs BWQ Baseline Sampling Sites http://www.raingardenregistry.com/clientuploads/Baseline%20Sites.pdf CDC Water Sampling Site http://www.raingardenregistry.com/clientuploads/CDC%20Sites.pdf

Of the fifteen sample dates in this study, four occurred within 48 hours after a storm event of at least 0.6 inches of rainfall (6/20/07, 5/14/08, 7/10/08, and 4/16/09), as recorded by Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network monitoring stations near Muncie (www. CoCoRaHS.org). As expected, some water quality parameters were significantly higher following storm events. Specifically, E. coli and total phosphorous (TP) showed significant increases (p < 0.05) following a minimum of 0.6 in. of rain.

E.coli 9000 8000 7000 cfu/100 mL

6000 5000 4000

3465

3000 2000 1000

140

0 Following Rain

Dry Conditions

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Total Phosphorous 0.30 0.25

mg/L

0.20 0.15

0.145

0.10

0.07

0.05 0.00 Following Rain

Dry Conditions

To determine the effect of rain barrel and rain garden installation on water quality, comparisons were made between results from upstream and downstream sample sites. A statistically signiďŹ cant difference (p < 0.05) was observed following installation for total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations.

Total Suspended Solids 180 160 140

mg/L

120 100 80 60 40 20

0 Upstream

Downstream CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE

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Water Quality Data Analysis The rain garden and rain barrel project was not just restricted to the Whitely neighborhood. Many other areas of Muncie also adopted various best management practices. Improvements in macroinvertebrate health have also been observed in the White River downstream from Muncie that may also be responding positively to this project.

Installation of rain barrels and rain gardens in the Whitely neighborhood began in March 2008. Data collected before and after that date were compared to determine if significant improvements in water quality could be observed. Ammonia (NH3) and nitrates (NO3) each showed statistically significant improvements following installation of the rain barrels. The small number of samples taken and the short amount of time since the installation makes it difficult to definitively conclude that the improvements observed were related to the installation of the rain barrels and rain gardens. Nonetheless, statistically significant improvements were detected, and many more of the parameters had p-values of between 0.05 and 0.10, suggesting further sampling would be prudent to prove or disprove the projects impact. Table of Raw Water Quality Data http://www.raingardenregistry.com/clientuploads/CDC%20Project%20Water%20quality%20raw%20data.pdf Macroinvertebrate Data Analysis

Because they are exposed to water continuously and have short life cycles that respond quickly to changes, macroinvertebrates make excellent monitors of water quality. The Bureau of Water Quality has been collecting macroinvertebrate data from Holt Ditch since 2005. During that time, macroinvertebrate communities in Holt Ditch have shown steady improvement in certain metrics (biological measures of community health). For example, the Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (a measure of sewage-related pollution) has decreased from 6.79 in 2005 (fairly poor water quality prior to rain barrel and rain garden installation) to 5.98 (fair water quality) in 2009 after rain barrel and rain garden installation. The proportion of midge larvae in the samples has decreased from 20% in 2005 to 11% in 2009 (an indication of improving conditions). Mayﬂies, a group of aquatic insects requiring good water quality, were completely absent prior to rain barrel installation. Following the Whitely project, mayﬂies are now beginning to inhabit Holt Ditch. The rain garden and rain barrel project was not just restricted to the Whitely neighborhood. Many other areas of Muncie also adopted various best management practices. Improvements in macroinvertebrate health have also been observed in the White River downstream from Muncie (Bureau of Water Quality monitoring site WHI 310.7) that may also be responding positively to this project. The Hilsenhoff Biotic Index has improved from 6.33 (fair water quality) prior to the project to 5.02 (good water quality) after the project. Summary of Water Quality Data

Although the time frame is short and the number of samples collected is relatively small, there is evidence that the use of rain barrels and rain gardens initiated by this project may be associated with improvements in water quality. Continued monitoring will help deﬁnitively determine whether or not the improvements in water quality are permanent, and to what extent these improvements may be attributed to the presence of rain gardens and rain barrels. Muncie Sanitary District Bureau of Water Quality http://www.munciesanitary.org/departments/bureau-of-water-quality/

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Pluses & Minuses August 2010

Links Stormwater Magazine Rain Gardens Reign article: http://bit.ly/8ZsNty Star Press City Hall Switches to Xeriscape article: http://bit.ly/b1rWdP Photo books

Rain Barrel Photo Book http://bit.ly/cz5cir Minnetrista Workshop http://bit.ly/aADn80 Burris Winners http://bit.ly/aIBsqk McCulloch Park Gardens http://bit.ly/bxAH6y MOM’s Childrens Garden http://bit.ly/9la75z MOM’s Rain Garden http://bit.ly/a0xcZm Longfellow Rain Garden http://bit.ly/aENLGT AmeriCorps http://bit.ly/aP1zM7 * The above links are Tiny Urls to allow clickable linking from this magazine.

Minuses The rain barrel program was a huge success, throughout our entire community. This sounds like a plus, but it is also a minus as MDSWM was not prepared for how huge this program was going to be. The management of the barrels from donations, to plumbing, to storage and transportation became a full time job for at least 4 people. The volume of phone calls of citizens wanting to purchase rain barrels was totally unmanageable for the number of people in the office. Three years later, two after the last of the barrel workshops, we still receive phone calls for barrels. If planning a rain barrel project, MDSWM just cautions to be aware that it will be a hit! Maintenance education is a huge issue! This project has run into several maintenance problems with the rain gardens. The McCulloch Park demonstration gardens were filled with dirt and rock and tamped down by our parks department. They were unsure what had caused the “holes at the park that had weeds growing”! The parks department and MDSWM worked together for the parks to replace the gardens and MDSWM used this as an educational opportunity. Additionally, Longfellow Rain Garden was mowed down in the spring of 2010 and a small section of the MOMs Garden was sprayed with weed killer. Both instances were maintenance people at the facilities that thought something wasn’t the way it had always been and hadn’t been given proper maintenance education. Both gardens will overcome their adversities and again MDSWM used these instances to educate the facility owners, facility volunteers and maintenance departments. Pluses The exposure in the community and beyond of stormwater management practices and their benefits has been HUGE! The project in 2008 was part of an article in Stormwater Magazine, a national professional publication. Locally, this project has brought about additional stormwater management practices. As stated in Year 2 narrative, the City Hall Xeriscape project was started and received national news coverage. Additionally, all projects of the Muncie Sanitary District are now reviewed for their water quality impact and the majority of a $5 million storm sewer project throughout the district has included drainage swales with native plantings. July 2010 will see the bid process for a new downtown city park that will include porous pavement and rain gardens and native plantings of over 36 trees and 52,500 plugs. Finally, plans are being drawn up for the Delaware County Building plaza to remove an entire block of concrete and replace with native plantings. Finally, the relationship between the Whitely Community and its local government has been improved. Further study in the neighborhood by Centers for Disease Control as well as the Muncie Sanitary District Bureau of Water Quality will hopefully show that stormwater management practices in a community not only reduce flooding but also improve water quality and public health.

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Thanks to the following agencies, organizations and people involved in the Whitely Rain Garden Project! Citizens of the Whitely Neighborhood Centers for Disease Control AmeriCorps NCCC Whitely Community Council Muncie Delaware Stormwater Management Muncie Sanitary District Muncie Sanitary District Bureau of Water Quality Muncie Sanitary District Sanitation Department Muncie Parks Department Delaware County GIS Department PepsiCo. Aquabarrel.com Ball State University NREM Department Ball State University Landscape Architecture Department Longfellow Elementary & Muncie Schools Creekside Apartments Roy C. Buley Center Motivate Our Minds Precious Hearts Daycare EcoRehab Spence Restoration Nursery Flatland Resources, Inc. Future Choices Dailey Apartments GRW, Inc. Minnetrista Cultural Center YellowBook Amazing Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bar & Grill Canoe Country Muncie Mayor, Sharon McShurley Delaware County Commissioners, Todd Donati, Don Dunnuck & Larry Bledsoe Lina Gordy Cornelius & Mary Dollison Randy Cecil Zach Cline Nate Cecil Jason Donati Toni Cecil

Shareen Wagley

16 â&#x20AC;˘ How Does Your Rain Garden Grow? | Muncie Delaware Stormwater Management