After the Flood: Stormwater Management in Action

Last year, our village finished building a stormwater basin a block away. They tore down four houses and dug out a huge area, planting it with native plants. I got to see the plans and the plant list, and we are still excited about it. Already, we've noticed more birds. I haven't heard frogs yet, but I'm hoping.

Anyway, on April 18 we received somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 inches of rain in 48 hours. Our old cinder block basement walls were spurting water like an artesian spring and we got six inches of water. Our new basin flooded. No surprise there.

Now it's a lake...

Hey, it's 10 INCHES of rain. I couldn't get more than four blocks in any direction, really.  However, what I was thrilled to see was within a day, the waters had receded. Significantly. Our basement drained in hours, not days. Of course it still needs cleanup, but it could be much worse.

As weather extremes continue, I'm glad that our little basin is doing its job and providing habitat for wildlife. The drought is officially over!

Now it's a pond... You can see that bench in the center.