Stormwater and Your Rain Garden

From the NCCES, Henderson County Center

When rain falls on natural areas, such as a forest or
meadow, it is slowed down, filtered by soil and plants, and allowed to soak
back into the ground.  When rain falls on
impervious surfaces like rooftops, roads, and parking lots, rain does not soak
into the ground, and storm water runoff is created.  Stormwater runoff picks up pollution such as
fertilizer, pesticides, sediment, motor oil, litter, and pet and yard waste. It
delivers these pollutants to local streams and rivers.

In most cities of North Carolina, stormwater runoff does not
go to a treatment plant.  Instead, water
and the pollution in it flow directly into streams and rivers.  Upstream from you, stormwater runoff goes
into the river from which you get your drinking water.  Downstream, other cities use your stormwater
runoff for drinking water.  During large
rainfall events, stormwater runoff can cause flooding.  Further, excess water flowing into streams
will cause bank erosion problems.

Backyard rain gardens are a fun and inexpensive way to
improve water quality and enhance the beauty of your yard or business.  Rain gardens are placed between stormwater
runoff sources (roofs, driveways, parking lots) and runoff destinations (storm
drains, streets, and streams).

A rain garden is a shallow depression in the ground that
captures runoff from your driveway or roof and allows it to soak into the
ground, rather than running across roads, capturing pollutants, and delivering
them to a stream.  Plants and soil work
together to absorb and filter pollutants and return cleaner water through the ground
to nearby streams.  Rain gardens also
reduce flooding by sending the water back underground, rather than into the
street.  Besides helping water quality
and reducing flooding, rain garden plants provide habitat for beneficial
insects and wildlife!*

The rain garden fills with a few inches of water after a
storm, and the water slowly filters into the ground.  Because water is only in the rain garden for
a day or two, it doesn’t become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.