Rain Garden Program

If you’ve lived in Easttown for even a short time you know that following a heavy rain, we have stormwater issues in our Township.  One method for better managing the increased flow and volume into our creeks following such storm events is through the design and construction of rain gardens.  These gardens are built to receive water from rain gutter downspouts on homes, commercial buildings or from impervious surfaces like a parking lot.  Typically, rain gardens are built with a “bowl-like” shape full of native plants which hold the stormwater, allowing it to enter our waterbodies 24-72 hours after the storm event.  Native plants are specifically utilized in rain gardens as they have longer, more robust root systems than non-native species, while also providing important habitat and food for pollinators.  

In collecting and slowly reducing stormwater flow, raingardens also reduce sediment flowing into storm drains; sediment is a major pollutant in southeastern Pennsylvania. Sediment-filled water chokes fish, smothers fish eggs and the insects that fish eat.  The sediments also carry nutrients like phosphates that cause overgrowth of algae in streams, rivers, and the coastal waters into which they flow.  Stormwater and sediment buildup in streams exacerbates flooding of roads and properties which causes property damage and even loss of human life.

The Easttown Township EAC has installed its first residential rain garden on Pennsylvania Ave here in Easttown. The rain garden is located along a driveway collecting water from that driveway via a speedbump. The EAC is currently preparing a grant application through the DEP’s Growing Greener Grant program to bring a 3-year formal rain garden program to Easttown Residents.  Please stay tuned for further rain garden program information!