It’s Planting Season!
CNT’s Green Infrastructure research and demonstration projects are moving into their final planting and monitoring season. Read about our current activities and the state of last year’s work.
Monitoring
Over the past year, CNT has been working with our partners, City of Chicago Departments of Environment (DOE) and Water Management (DWM), the Village of Bellwood, the Illinois EPA, the U.S. EPA and GreenCorps Chicago to set up Green Infrastructure demonstration projects. Beginning again this spring, the sites are being monitored for performance characteristics regarding infiltration and runoff reduction.
The goals of these projects were to construct and monitor the performance of different Green Infrastructure Best Management Practices (BMPs). The data collected from each site will be used to advocate for greater reliance on Green Infrastructure as a sustainable solution to stormwater problems.
Bellwood
The research site in Bellwood consists of two rain gardens that receive runoff from the same roof, designed to compare the efficacy of native plants’ absorption of stormwater versus the absorption capacity of turf grass. Rainfall data and the performance of each rain garden is obtained with an on-site rain gauge and two monitoring wells and a soil moisture meter in each garden. Monitoring began in October 2007, equipment was removed in November to prevent damage from freezing, and is ready for monitoring now beginning this spring.
Read more in the Case Study.
St. Margaret Mary Church and School
Three kinds of Green Infrastructure BMPs were created in this project to relieve flooding during heavy periods of rainfall: a bioswale, two rain gardens and two patches of permeable pavement. Each of the two rain gardens at St. Margaret Mary has a different soil profile in order to compare the performance of different designs. Rainfall data and the performance of the bioswale and rain gardens will be measured through an on-site rain gauge and two monitoring wells and a soil moisture meter in each of the three BMPs. Like the Bellwood site, monitoring will start again this spring.
Read more in the Case Study.
Our Lady Gate of Heaven
This project’s vegetated swale was designed to drain nearly half of the parking lot, intercepting stormwater from the pavement before it reaches the sewer system. The vegetated swale at Our Lady Gate of Heaven Parish is designed to be typical of a bioswale located in a parking lot. Rainfall data and the performance of the bioswale will be measured through a rain gauge, three monitoring wells, and a soil moisture meter. Monitoring will begin again this spring.
Read more in the Case Study.
Outreach
With research well underway, we are now focusing on the demonstration aspect of the projects. CNT is working with the community groups based around each research site to choose multiple locations in their area to build rain gardens. These high-profile, functional landscapes will show the community the beauty of native vegetation and the ease of constructing a small-scale rain garden. CNT is kicking off the planting season with demonstration gardens in Chicago’s South and West sides, and a community planting day in Bellwood. Check back for more photos from our community rain garden projects and information on a volunteer opportunity in your neighborhood!
