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• Protecting Water | FAQ
  • Teach for the Watershed
  • Raingardens of West Michigan, Low Impact Development & Stormwater
  • West Michigan Stream Projects
  • Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program
• Restorative Institutions | FAQ
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• Sustainable Communities | FAQ
  • Energy Conservation
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Raingardens of West Michigan, Low Impact Development & Stormwater

Educating and advocating for the use of innovative strategies that value and capture our stormwater runoff; thereby reducing pollution to our local streams, rivers and lakes and improving water quality

Rain gardens keep stormwater where it falls, and help protect our water resources from stormwater pollution and erosion. Water and pollutants soak into the soil and are taken up by plants instead of washing into rivers, lakes and streams. http://www.raingardens.org

Rain Gardens of West Michigan is WMEAC’s community stormwater education project. Our work is focused primarily in the City of Grand Rapids and on West Michigan communities, but through our project website and beautiful rain gardens we have connected with people all over the world.

Rain gardens are designed to absorb stormwater on site, a form of Low Impact Development (LID). At WMEAC, we use them to educate people about stormwater problems and solutions. Our intial project was funded by the City of Grand Rapids, the Frey Foundation, the Steelcase Foundation, and the Grand Rapids Community Foundation.

As most of our urban and suburban surface water pollution problems are caused by stormwater, it seemed logical that one of the best strategies to prevent this kind of pollution would be to put the stormwater somewhere else. Rain gardens seemed like a good alternative, and also seemed like an effective way to educate people about stormwater problems. Since our project began in 2002, rain gardens have captured the imaginations of people everywhere.

Low impact development strategies keep stormwater where it falls, reducing loads on aging urban infrastructure and helping prevent stormwater pollution. Low impact development uses such features as porous paving, rain gardens, green roofs, water storage and reuse, native landscaping, and many other green practices.

WMEAC is housed in the Center of the Universe, the first zero-stormwater discharge commercial site in Grand Rapids. This gives us the best teaching tool for stormwater management we could have: our office. We have a showcase green roof with an observation deck, and a rain garden off the parking lot that is so beautiful when in bloom that it has been featured in three national magazines. We welcome visitors to our office, but please call and make reservations for tours. In the meantime, visit our rain garden website by clicking the link below.

http://www.raingardens.org/

Action Items

Great Lakes Great Michigan is a campaign to bring Michigan’s laws in line with the Great Lakes Compact, a regional agreement among the 8 Great Lakes States to preserve, protect and restore our Great Lakes. Take Action! Participate in the campaign at their website.

Clean Kent County - Every day an estimated 1 million gallons of untreated waste from toilets and household drains is discharged from Kent County’s failing septic systems. Clean Kent County is a campaign to improve Kent County’s efforts to address this growing issue. To learn more or get involved contact Shawn Wessel at swessell@wmeac.org.

Hispanic Environmental Health Webpage The EPA has launched a new site in Spanish, for Hispanic U.S. residents. It provides information on environmental issues and their effects.