Michigan: Lansing

Green Infrastructure Type: Green Capitols

Types of Green Infrastructure Used: Rain Garden

Summary:

A curbside rain garden along Michigan Avenue in Lansing, Michican Photo Credit: Tetra Tech, Inc.

Description:
The City of Lansing, Michigan's Public Service Department, with the help of a federal transportation enhancement fund and a Clean Michigan Initiative grant through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, implemented a streetscape rain garden project that extends over four city blocks of Michigan Avenue as part of the overall CSO rainwater management system. The rain gardens were designed as a demonstration project for the City of Lansing to address stormwater quality. In addition to treating runoff from the streets and sidewalks, the rain gardens will provide aesthetic appeal, educational opportunities for the public, and a pedestrian friendly environment. The implementation of these rain gardens have helped ease peak flows for nearly 90% of rainfall events and decreased the amount of flow entering the storm sewer system.

In an effort to reduce costs, the City of Lansing instituted an "Adopt-a-Garden" program, giving individual groups and businesses an opportunity to sponsor and assume maintenance responsibilities for one of the Michigan Avenue rain gardens. The program has also served as an ongoing educational tool, which includes recruiting new volunteers and businesses to take part in watershed stewardship, posting informational signage, development of maintenance manuals, and participation in maintenance activities. The city has also formed a partnership with a local science museum, which plans to develop a rain garden within the museum that will lead into a tour of Michigan Avenue.

As a result of this project and educational efforts, the City of Lansing will continue to incorporate green infrastructure into their overall city development plans as part of its ongoing combined sewer-separation projects. The city is currently developing a plan for monitoring plant survivability, flow and infiltration rates of bioretention cells as well monitoring the social acceptance of the rain gardens.

For more information, visit the City of Lansing Web site at http://www.cityoflansingmi.com/pubserv/cso/michigan_ave_rain_gardens.jsp or http://www.tetratech.com/StaticFile/PDFs/PapersArticles/Taking_It_To_The_Streets.pdf .

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Last updated on September 10, 2009 10:55 AM
URL:http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/greeninfrastructure/gicasestudies_specific.cfm