the time storm water reaches a lake or river, pollutants such as gasoline, oil and fertilizers have been greatly reduced. St. Paul’s 5-by-25-foot rain gar-
Rain gardens like this one at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Jersey City, N.J., (also shown below) help cities—and the environment—by collecting water and providing a natural filter before the water reaches lakes and rivers with pollutants.
Church rain gardens help control flooding, improve watershed quality
By Anne Basye I
n the concrete jungle, an hour-long downpour can cause an all-day headache. Rain gushing from
streets and sidewalks, parking lots, roofs and other impermeable sur- faces quickly overwhelms a city’s sewer system. Te results: flooded basements, backed-up sewers, and decreased water quality in lakes and rivers inundated with untreated wastewater and pollutants.
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Jersey
City, N.J., knows this problem well. “Tremendous problems with water” have included basement flooding and Hurricane Sandy, which affected many parts of Jersey City and Hobo- ken, said Jessica Lambert, pastor. Te Environmental Protection
Agency has ordered Jersey City to upgrade its aging, dilapidated sewer system, which sends storm water directly into the Hudson River. In the meantime, St. Paul installed a rain garden in May to try to keep the water out of its building and the sewer system. Rain gardens mimic nature in
places where pavement gets in the way. Constructed with porous, absorbent material and filled with plants that can withstand flooding, these gardens slowly percolate water through layers of roots and soil. By
38
www.thelutheran.org
Grants offset costs Jersey City has eight years to upgrade its sanitary system. Rain gardens tackle the storm water problem much faster. To help the idea spread, agencies like Sustainable Jersey City, which funded the St. Paul proj- ect, are paying churches and other nonprofits to create demonstration rain gardens. Large roofs and park- ing lots make churches ideal candi- dates. When an inch of rain falls, a 1,000-square-foot roof can send 600 gallons of water into a storm system. Municipalities are taking notice
and funding water system upgrades by assessing storm water manage- ment fees based on square footage (about $900 a year for a church with 10,000 square feet of roof and parking). Grants, discounts and waiv-
den runs between the church and its driveway. Compacted clay soil was dug out and replaced with three dif- ferent layers of more absorbent soil, followed by mulch and native plants. Designed by the New Jersey Tree Foundation and installed with the help of parishioners, the rain garden catches water from the 6,000- foot parking lot. Water from the 4,000-square-foot roof is captured in underground tanks and released slowly into the sewer system. Te project is part of the con-
gregation’s post-Sandy emphasis on building community resiliency and disaster preparedness. “Our rain garden, our community dinners, food pantry and garden are proof that even small changes can affect the community and make a real dif- ference,” Lambert said.
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