Politics & Government

Groundbreaking Ceremony Celebrates Rain Garden Project

Officials expect the garden to help with stormwater issues at Mount Calvary.

A partnership between local, regional and state agencies—11 total—will bring a rain garden to this summer.

A rain garden is a trench full of deep-rooted plants that soak in more water than grass. Gardens are designed to drink in heavy amounts of stormwater runoff to prevent that water from entering drainage systems.

Officials from Brentwood, Mount Calvary, Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD), Missouri Botanical Garden and Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR), among others, touted the project as a green way to improve water quality during a groundbreaking ceremony at the church on Friday morning.

Find out what's happening in Maplewood-Brentwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"With their efforts... you can see the outcome is going to be fantastic," Mayor Pat Kelly told a crowd of supporters.

The rain garden is part of an overall effort to prevent flooding on the properties of church neighbors. Church grounds gradually slope downward into neighboring properties, where floods were common after heavy rainfalls.

Find out what's happening in Maplewood-Brentwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

With the church's permission, MSD crews dug a wide ditch between church and neighboring properties and placed decorative rock to function as a barrier. The rain garden will grow in the ditch. MSD added a stormwater drain that's connected to an existing drainage system for any additional flooding on the site.

Washington University researchers tested water quality on the property in 2010 and will measure the progress through the next several years.

Michael Murphy, president of Mount Calvary, said the church considered a traditional drainage system but opted for the rain garden because it's more environmentally friendly.

"Religious organizations are chosen by God to be good stewards," he said. "This allows us to be a better steward."

A $390,000 DNR grant helped pay for the project.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Maplewood-Brentwood