Rain Garden Grants for Landowners in the Pine Creek Watershed

Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania has begun to install rain gardens in the Pine Creek Watershed thanks to a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Your property may be a candidate to have one of these free rain gardens installed, allowing you to help reduce the amount of storm water runoff that goes into our overtaxed sewer systems.

The Pine Creek Watershed contains 65 stream miles that were listed in the 2008 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment report as “impaired,” meaning that citizen action and environmental projects--such as installing rain gardens--are necessary measures to ensure the health and long term viability of the watershed.

Rain gardens are one of the most effective measures to address storm water runoff, minimizing the volume and force of flowing water, filter pollutants, and allow water to slowly infiltrate into the ground. A rain garden is a simple landscape feature designed to capture runoff from hard surfaces by replicating nature’s own filtration system--reducing pollutants and the volume of surge water. This lessens the severity of flash flooding, recharges groundwater, reduces erosion, increases plant and animal biodiversity, and provides an attractive landscape feature.

Interested in learning more? Then attend one of our free information sessions where we will fill you in on how you can become a part of the solution. If your property is chosen for free rain garden installation, we will provide support with design, installation, plants, and other materials necessary to complete the rain garden installation. Completed gardens will be featured on the Three Rivers Rain Garden Alliance website.

Please contact us regarding our upcoming information session at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve.

July 21 at 7:00 p.m., Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, 614 Dorseyville Road, Fox Chapel

Contact:
Roxanne Swann
rswann@aswp.org
412-963-6100 ext 17