By Lindsay Peyton
The City of Burien recently completed its 10th residential rain garden – the final step in a grant-funded pilot program aimed at protecting water quality.
A rain garden is a shallow depression, filled with drought-resistant plants. The water running off adjacent roofs and asphalt is redirected into the gardens, where it is filtered by soil, preventing pollution.
Mary Eidmann, City of Burien stormwater outreach specialist, explained that building rain gardens in low-income neighborhoods was the goal.
“Hopefully, we can make this a long-term thing,” she said. The program got its start when Eidmann was hired for her current post She became aware that Burien did not offer any type of rebates for green infrastructure.
She wanted to help change that – and to go a step further.
Instead of asking residents to pay out of pocket for a rain garden – with the promise of reimbursement on the horizon – Burien would fund the structures itself – and find volunteers to do the work.
“What was really important to us was to pay 100 percent for the rain garden and not have the homeowners worry about anything,” she said.
Eidmann said all of Burien benefits when residents plant rain gardens. The structures help prevent flooding and erosion – and stops polluted water from flowing into nearby waterways. In addition, Eidmann said rain gardens help protect birds and butterfly habitats, as well as salmon populations living in area creeks.
“There’s an environmental benefit, and it prevents flooding,” she said. “And it’s beautiful and increases property value.”
Eidmann worked to reach out to low-income neighborhoods and translate all of the flyers about the program into Spanish. She wanted as many home owners as possible to have an opportunity to apply for a rain garden.
“Environmental issues are front and center – but certain groups are often excluded from these conversations,” she said. “It takes effort to meet people where they are. But if we’re not reaching every single one of our citizens, we’re failing. We have to reach everyone.”
Participants in the program had help installing a rain garden on their property – with volunteers from the Duwamish Infrastructure Restoration Training (DIRT Corps) getting on board. The organization provides green infrastructure career training for young adults in south Seattle.
Cari Simson with DIRT Corps said getting involved with Burien’s rain garden project was an easy decision.
“We want to keep stormwater out of Puget Sound,” she said. “We want to protect our water and build functional, beautiful landscapes – and at the same time, get people into this type of work.”
DIRT Corps’ Jaen Gomez Cervantes led the group at the last garden creation project, which was held on Saturday, Oct. 7.
“We basically create a natural filter,” he said. “We want to slow down the rate that the water goes into the ground.”
The hands-on workshop was open to all Burien residents who wanted to learn about rain gardens – and to get their hands dirty helping build one.
Participants learned how to calculate the proper size for each garden, what types of plants to use and the best mix of soil for the structures.
“We wanted to make sure that while we’re doing this, we could educate everyone,” Eidmann said.
She hopes to grow the program into a regular offering of the city.
In the meantime, Eidmann was glad that Lidia Ruiz was able to gain a rain garden in her yard.
Ruiz, who spoke through a translator, helped prepare the garden, select the plants and test the soil. She plans to spread the word about the program to her neighbors.
“I’ll invite them to see how beautiful my garden is, and then I can explain the benefits,” she said.
For more information, visit www.burienwa.gov/waterschool.
