This series of rain garden cells in University City is one of three demonstration projects the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is implementing in the Deer Creek Watershed in collaboration with a team of Deer Creek Watershed Alliance Partners.
In October 2010, seven residential rain gardens were installed in University City to address an erosion and flooding concern. Washington University monitored water quality at this site to obtain baseline data, and will conduct several years of follow up monitoring to measure the project’s effectiveness in improving water quality.
All seven rain gardens are in the same sub-watershed, and working together are designed to reduce water pollution and water overflows downhill.
The maintenance of each rain garden cell will be the responsibility of individual landowners.
These rain gardens were featured in the St. Louis Post Dispatch and on the University City Patch web site (story 1 | story 2).
Native Missouri Plants Used:
Each plant name links to its entry in the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder Service, which will open in a new window.
Project Partners:
- Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
- Missouri Botanical Garden’s Shaw Nature Reserve
- Washington University
- Missouri Department of Natural Resources
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation
- Gilberg Design and Consulting
- Jeffrey L. Bruce & Company
- EcoWorks Unlimited
- DJM Ecological Services
- Missouri Department of Conservation