Noticed my street's storm drain hasn't flooded once this summer after the city planted those rain gardens 2 years ago

For like 5 summers straight my street would turn into a small lake every time it rained hard, water backing up from the storm drain and creeping onto our lawns. The city put in those little garden strips along the curb back in 2022 with all native plants and deep soil, and I realized yesterday after a crazy downpour that the drain handled it fine. Has anyone else seen a specific project like this actually make a visible dent in local flooding or runoff?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_diana24d ago

My street was basically a free car wash for 4 summers straight before they did the bioswale project on Main St back in 2021. I remember thinking "great another pointless government thing" but then last month we got that 3 inch downpour and I watched the water disappear into the ground like magic instead of pooling up to my mailbox. It's honestly embarrassing how long it took me to connect the dots between those pretty little gardens and my dry basement. But hey, at least my car isn't growing moss from all the standing water anymore, so I'll call that a win for the plants and my own cluelessness.

jade_jenkins25d ago

That's awesome... the "small lake" thing really hit home because I've noticed something similar with the parks near me. They put in those bioswales along the walking paths maybe 3 years ago and I used to see big puddles that would sit for days after a storm, now they drain in a couple hours. It's one of those things where you don't realize how much those little fixes add up until you see your own street finally not flooding... feels like a small win against all the bigger stuff we can't control.

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gibson.avery25d ago

@jade_jenkins put in a rain garden last summer and it fixed my backyard flooding problem.