What is a Rain Garden?

A rain garden is any landscaping that absorbs and filters stormwater (rainwater) runoff from a nearby impervious surface such as a roof, driveway, parking lot or street. The rain garden captures water that would otherwise go down a storm drain and be piped directly into the nearest convenient creek or shoreline.
Rain gardens prevent toxic pollutants such as tire dust, brake dust and cigarette butts from entering our creeks and oceans. They also replenish the groundwater (natural underground water supply) that seeps gradually into creeks and keeps them flowing clean and cool even during summer dry spells. Rain gardens mimic nature’s own “timed-release” system for maintaining healthy water levels for salmon (not too much, not too little).
A rain garden can be a simple lawn or cluster of rocks receiving runoff from a roof downspout that has been disconnected from house perimeter drains. It can be a mini-ecosystem full of varied plants, insects and other animals. It can be a vast pond or wetland that serves  as the focal point of a neighbourhood. Our imaginations are the only limit.

The 1000 Rain Gardens Project in Bowker Creek’s Valley

Making Bowker Creek healthy again requires that people send much more rainwater into the earth and much less into the storm drains. Wherever we live, work or go to school in Bowker Creek’s valley, the 1000 Rain Gardens Project aims to help us manage rainwater better.
The project partners Friends of Bowker Creek Society with Peninsula Streams Society (PSS). The PSS initiative, the Rain Gardens in Headwaters Program, will multiply rain gardens throughout Greater Victoria, starting here in Bowker Creek’s valley. The 1000 Rain Gardens project provides a vital first step and proving ground for the wider program. Click on the sidebar links for more information, including a map with rain gardens you can visit and instructions for building your own.