The Gaye Sprague Rain Garden is now complete!

The Gaye Sprague Rain Garden at the Caine Halter YMCA is complete! Thank you to our friends at Earth Design and Darrohn Engineering!

Rain gardens, or bioretention basins, are essential for many reasons:

•  They slow the rate of water coming off of hard surfaces before entering our water, which prevents further streambank erosion
•  They allow the water to penetrate the soil & move downward to recharge the groundwater
•  The soil in the rain garden can help filter out contaminants before entering our waterways

See the project's progression here:

Before this project began, this area was subject to extreme stormwater runoff into the Reedy River & it was overgrown with invasive plants. 

Earth Design & Darrohn Engineering were hard at work removing invasive plants, cutting a channel and implementing drainage. The channel was filled with rocks and step pools to slow down the storm flows. They also planted native vegetation and utilized mulch. 

Now that the hard work is done, we wait for the native plants to start growing! The rain garden has already been doing a great job at fighting the stormwater. Be sure to check out the Gaye Sprague Rain Garden the next time you're on the Swamp Rabbit Trail near the Caine Halter YMCA!