In addition to the completion of a functional rain-garden on site, there are 5 goals that the project must achieve.

• Bring to light environmental issues
• Alternative learning environment
• Foster enthusiasm and enhance self esteem
• Teach and inspire the community
• Demonstrate progressive, achievable solutions

Goal 1: This project will enable teachers to bring to light various environmental issues and foster an interactive learning environment to teach children the concepts of the environment.

Goal 2: The rain garden will provide an alternative to the most common methods of learning in that it is a tactile/kinesthetic learning environment where students can learn through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them.

Goal 3: Participation in the creation and design of the rain garden will foster enthusiasm, enhance self esteem, and increase relationship skills amongst students.

Goal 4: The rain garden will teach and inspire the surrounding community to have an understanding, respect, and love for natural systems.

Goal 5: To demonstrate that there are progressive, achievable solutions available to address storm water management.

Our built environment.
Ecosystem degradation and non-sustainable environmental practices are ongoing and pervasive problems that require innovation, determination and courage to envision solutions, ensure the survival of future generations, and revive the Earth's irreplaceable ecosystems.

Children are our future leaders, and it is imperative that we provide them the skills, knowledge and resources early in their lives that will allow them to develop new methods to combat the damage that has occurred within all ecosytems.

• Project Urban Rain Garden Final Report
• Our Built Environment - A Rain Garden Model

The Plants:

• Adiantum pedatum - Maidenhair Fern
• Acer circinatum - Vine Maple
• Achlys triphylla - Vanilla Leaf
• Aquilegia Formosa - Red Columbine
• Arctostaphylos uva-ursi - Kinnickinnick
• Asarum caudatum - Wild Ginger
• Aster subspicatus - Douglas Aster
• Blechnum spicant - Deer Fern
• Cammassia quamash - Common Camas
• Cornus Canadensis - Bunchberry
• Cornus nuttallii ‘White Wonder’ - Eddies White Wonder Dogwood
• Cornus sericea - Red-Twig Dogwood
• Dicentra Formosa - Bleeding Heart
• Fragaria chiloensis - Coastal Strawberry
• Gaultheria shallon - Salal
• Heracleum lanatum - Cow Parsnip
• Iris setosa - White Flag Iris
• Juncus ensifolius - Dagger leaved Rush
• Penstemon serrulatus - Coast Penstemon
• Philadelphus lewisii - Mock Orange
• Polystichum munitum - Sword Fern
• Ribes sanguineum - Flowering Currant
• Rosa nutkana - Nootka Rose
• Rubus spectabilis - Salmonberry
• Vaccinium ovatum - Evergreen Huckleberry
• Vaccinium ovalifolium - Oval-leafed Blueberry
• Viola palustris - Marsh Violet

How does Project Rain Garden Work?

The rain garden is the reclamation of an impervious area of 300 square meters of urban playground at Victoria West Elementary. The rain garden is designed to take stormwater from an overhead walkway (approximately 250 square meters) and discharge the water into a catchment area.

Water exits the roof structure to fall through a metal sculpture into a 15" wide by 2" deep pea gravel channel, and is then carried through the main portion of the garden by this channel.

Any amount of water that filters through the soil bed will be cleaned and remain in the trench until enough clean water fills it. Once the trench has filled with enough clean water, the water will be carried to the catch basin and discharged into the stormwater system. Upon the occurrence of a larger storm event, resulting in the soil reaching its maximum absorption capacity, excess filtered waters will be carried to the catch basin through a perforated pipe located in a small clay trench approximately 48" - 60" beneath the soil. The channel and the plants within the garden will prevent erosion from occurring and perform filtering and sedimentation before the water enters the storm drain.

To ensure proper and effective drainage the garden is raised by a cement wall at the point that where the water exits the roof, then slopes down through the garden. To ensure that the plants establish themselves and survive the first few years, an underground drip irrigation system was installed. This system uses very little water, and ensures that the water applied to the plants does not evaporate. The native plants were chosen for their ability to withstand large amounts of water, their low maintenance requirements and their capabilities to adapt to local weather conditions.