Rain Gardens for Ames  

 

Retain The Rain:  Why are we promoting Rain Gardens?  One inch of rain produces about 600 gallons of stormwater runoff from a 1,000 sq ft roof.  Imagine the number of rooftops in Ames and you can quickly see how much stormwater flows to our storm drains.  After picking up common urban pollutants (car drippings, fertilizers, animal wastes), this water heads to our creeks, streams, lakes and rivers. Rain gardens are one way of capturing and cleaning some of this runoff water. They are not only ecologically responsible --they also help conserve water.  That's why we're promoting rain gardens!

 

Program Summary:  Ames residents that want to know more about rain gardens are invited to attend one of six free workshops (see listing below).  Attendees are then eligible for a $25, two-hour, onsite raingarden consultation at their residence.  homeowners that host a raingarden consultation and complete the "application for installation assistance" form become eligible for reimbursement of the consultation fee and some installation costs.  Reimbursements are based on successful raingarden and signage installation.

 

Toolkit Enclosures:

¨      Lists of Native Plants for Landscaping:

                              (Short, Medium, Tall, Rain Garden, & Not Recommended)

¨      List of Popular Native Landscaping Plants Grouped by Soil Moisture       Preference

¨      Application for Raingarden Installation Assistance form

¨      Native Plant Suppliers List

¨      Rain Gardening and Native Landscaping References List

¨      Sample Text for Rain Garden Signage

¨      Rain Garden How-to Summary Brochure

 

Presenters:  Inger Lamb (515.250.1693, inger@...)

                          Anita Maher-Lewis (515.230.5523, anita.maherlewis@...)

 

Presentation Dates:            April 3, 2007 (1 PM, Ames City Hall, Rm 135)

                                                April 5, 2007 (6:30 PM, Ames City Hall, Rm 135

                                                April 7, 2007 (10 AM & 2 PM, Ames Public Library)

                                                April 10, 2007 (6:30 PM, Ames City Hall, auditorium)

                                                April 12, 2007 (6:30 PM, Ames City Hall, Rm 135)

 

This Program Made Possible By Support from:

 

City of Ames, iowa

The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Prairie Rivers of Iowa RC&D, Inc.

 

Please preregister by calling:

 

Carman Rosburg" < crosburg@...>,  or call Carman at 515/290-7384

 

While preregistration is not necessary, please do so in order to ensure you receive your Rain Garden Toolkit!