On Tuesday, July 27, 2010 the Onondaga Environmental Institute (OEI) worked together with The Onondaga County Dept. of Water Environment Protection (OCDWEP) to install a new rain garden at their Hiawatha Blvd. sewage treatment facility. The Rain Garden, comes complete with with a maintenance booklet, singnage, a brochure and a photo tour of the process. The idea is that it will act as a demonstration site for community members, interested in installing their own garden, to come and see a functioning rain garden and get some information about it. To see pictures, follow the link to OEI's website Flickr Gallery.
What does this mean for the lake? Rain gardens are a means of retaining runoff and preventing it from entering the sewer system. During rain events storm water can fill sewers and cause sewage to overflow into local creeks which empty into Onondaga Lake. Rain gardens help prevent the storm water run off from ever reaching the sewer system by allowing the water to percolate back into the ground, and thus keeping the sewage out of Onondaga Lake.
The weather was beautiful and we all had a great time playing in the dirt while getting something accomplished. I would like to thank everyone who helped make this possible at OEI and OCDWEP by taking time out of their work day to make a difference.
