A Simple Solution To Stormwater Mitigation: An In-Depth Look At Rainscaping With Taylor Heuermann

These Black-Eyed Susans at Shaw Nature Reserve are not only pretty and native to Missouri, but their deep roots are perfect for absorbing rainwater! (Image Source: author)

Problems with water are seemingly a fact of life; problems we’ve all become accustomed to. Whether it be basements, roads, or even entire towns after disaster, heavy rainfall can cause a lot of damage to the lives people have built.

The solution many immediately jump to involves diverting more water flow to creeks, rivers, and sewers. However, knowledge of humans’ role in the water cycle, research about the floodplain and watersheds St. Louis is built on, or even a quick internet search will lead to a simpler, and quite frankly, easier, solution.

Rainscaping!

And despite what it may sound like at first, no – it is not another form of diverting water flow. At least, not in a way that requires building and rebuilding miles of infrastructure, and certainly not in a way that creates a wack-a-mole of fixes that lead to more problems.

Understanding rainscaping

The development of modern human infrastructure has made it difficult for water to be absorbed into the ground, as the ecosystem’s water cycle naturally functions. The land we’ve built on is now covered with “impervious surfaces” – water doesn’t soak into the ground, but instead runs over it. This could be pavement, concrete, or anything else that doesn't absorb water!

In addition to these impervious surfaces, the grass lawns most people have, despite still being living plants and able to support some life, are not ideal for those with goals of sustainable living. The roots of these grasses are shallow and do not provide much aeration in the soil for water to absorb into, and other compaction of the ground allows rainfall to run over it into sewers or streams instead of into the ground.

Believe it or not, those turf lawns we see all around us are considered impervious surfaces due to how little they absorb water!

This makes for a big change in the natural ecosystem of any developed area that doesn’t contain elements to aid in the natural water cycle. That's especially true for this area around St. Louis that was once prairie and wetland. Situated at the intersection of two major rivers, this ecosystem developed around natural floods and the reabsorption of water.

Although redirecting water to rivers and streams can be effective in certain areas, in can cause issues down the road (and down the stream!). For example, runoff from the farmland that covers so much of Missouri carries along any pesticides used in their agricultural processes, which are harmful to any wildlife or people who drink this water untreated.

Not only that, but this massive and sudden increase in water flowing into rivers and streams after years of it being absorbed into the ground also leads to increased bank erosion, hurting the river's ecosystem, as well as more flooding at the lowest elevations or unprotected areas of the floodplain our city is built on.

Even directing water flow into manmade sewer systems can cause issues down the line as climate change leads to even more rainfall and these systems become overwhelmed.

With all this, we can see that diverting water from developed areas does solve the problem of flooding in that specific area, but can cause several more problems in other regions or later in time.

Rainscaping is a solution that can help solve most, if not all, of them, as well as simplifying the process to do so and adding more beauty to the environment we create for ourselves.

Missouri Botanical Garden Rainscaping Coordinator Taylor Heuermann explains, “Rainscaping is a combination of planting, floor features, [and more] to help manage stormwater as close as possible to where it’s falling instead of letting it move somewhere else…it's like landscaping with intention and like, wanting it to be beautiful but also wanting it to help restore what was here at one point before.”

“It's just kind of welcoming people back into their ecosystem.”

How can I begin rainscaping, and what effect will it have?

Rainscaping done on a large scale can have some great effects; let’s take Brentwood Park and their stormwater mitigation project for an example.

During heavy rainfall, water would flood neighboring street Manchester Road, where it would cause issues at these lower elevations.

“The fire department has a water rescue,” says Heuermann, “like, isn’t it landlocked? We're not on the ocean. They had boats to be able to go rescue people who got trapped in their apartments or in their cars because of how much water was ending up there.”

This park area had quite a bit of concrete and buildings, impervious surfaces that could not absorb water. Due to this flooding in the area, Brentwood built three separate areas called bioretentions that water can flow into when the area begins to flood. They’re set up with native plants around the edges and are laid out as a park that people can walk through and enjoy - this way, not only does it help reduce flooding, but it also supports the wildlife and people in the area.

“They've had a rainfall that would have totally flooded Manchester Road, and this was before the project was even done, and it was all going into just one of the bioretention wells and they were like, ‘Well that one did it. Wow.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, we have three. Wow.’”

However, rainscaping doesn’t have to be on a large scale to have an impact. In fact, this system for decreased water runoff is often used to solve personal household and property issues!

To make sustainability at your home more accessible, there are funds available to support your work of creating a rainscape!

One of these programs is through the Metropolitan Sewer District, and anyone who pays money to MSD can participate in a rainscaping project using funds they receive from the Environmental Protection Agency for this water management project.

The other program is through Deer Creek Watershed Alliance – grants are requested from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and any grants given to help others install rainscaping features also comes from the EPA.

Heuermann says the reviews from participants are positive! “When they finish a project, they send us pictures and everything for us because we have to review it before we can give them money. They sent us all their pictures of their beautiful installation that they put in. They said, ‘We had a big rain event that several months ago would have flooded our basement, and not a single drop ended up in there after we put in all our rainscaping.’”

“So it really works quite well for people; we've got good testimonies. People have to say it works.”

Beyond helping with runoff water, a survey of those who completed these projects through the MSD program showed that rainscaping also had several other positive impacts – 92% of those surveyed replied that this garden installation had a moderate to major impact on increasing biodiversity in their yards, and 94% said that it helped beautify their landscape.

“They're like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is great. Why wouldn’t I do this sooner? Like, this is so so beautiful…There's bees I've never seen before coming here and these butterflies are back, I see monarchs now with swallowtails, and the birds are visiting my yard!’”

Rainscaping can look like switching from a turf lawn to deep-rooted native prairie grasses and plants, adding rain barrels, or even using semi-permeable pavement for your driveway, sidewalk, and patio in place of solid pavement. And if you don’t have much time or energy for gardening, these projects may be the way to go; many of the native plants seen in these gardens are perennials you only plant once.

A smaller rainscaping project, even just in your backyard, can still play a massive role in fostering a healthy ecosystem. Heuermann says, “A large-scale project like Brentwood Park is fantastic obviously, but even with just these little ones in people's houses, there's that research that shows just little ones all over the place can be just as, if not more, effective than the one big one.”

Don’t be afraid to start!

The usual case of motivation to create a rainscape is seeing someone else do it and learning about the benefits. In fact, many learn about the Botanical Garden’s grant programs through signs in the yards of those who participate!

“Usually what we see is when people apply for one of our grants it starts with one person on the street, and they put it in some beautiful feature and their neighbors are walking by and there's a sign in their yard and they're like, ‘Oh wow, you got money to do that?’” This creates a domino effect of rainscaping between neighbors, especially as time goes on and more and more begin to do it.

Even the management group who are taking down Chesterfield Mall have reached out to the Botanical Garden about funding and resources, as well as what they should do in terms of planting that would help with water runoff, as opposed to installing expensive storm drains.

And if you’re personally not sure how to design your garden, or even what plants to add to your yard, the Grow Native resource guide from the Missouri Prairie Foundation includes garden designs, species, and a list of organizations and businesses by service and region to help with your rainscaping journey!

In addition to that, the Missouri Botanical Garden rainscaping guide has many tips, resources, and people to reach out to for you to learn more about what type of rainscaping is best for you and how to go about it.

“Rainscaping is becoming a big thing. At least here in Saint Louis.”

Whether you’re looking for a way to prevent flooding in and around your house, beautify your yard, add a low-effort garden that welcomes biodiversity, or dip your toe into the wonderful world of sustainability, rainscaping is an effective, fun, and flexible way to go about it.

...

If you enjoyed the article, consider subscribing to my email list! It's free, and will snd new articles about varying topics of sustainability straight to your inbox :)