This is an exciting time for Hamline Midway residents who want to improve Mississippi River water quality! As part of the upcoming 2012 Residential Street Vitality Program (RSVP), residents whose streets will be reconstructed this summer (see map of Hewitt-Tatum RSVP Project) are eligible for FREE boulevard rain gardens with joint support from the City of St. Paul and the Capitol Region Watershed District. [Don't live in the Hewitt-Tatum RSVP area? You may be eligible to receive grant assistance from the Capitol Region Watershed District.]
A rain garden is a shallow, constructed depression to catch rainwater and allow it to infiltrate into the ground within 48 hours. Rain gardens contain plants that can tolerate standing water for several hours. Rain gardens help the Mississippi River's health by allowing water to infiltrate into the ground rather than run off into storm drains directly to the river. Boulevard rain gardens in this project are engineered to accept some stormwater run-off from the street.
For RSVP residents interested in having a boulevard rain garden, the City will install a curb cut, dig a depression into the boulevard, and put down mulch as part of the street repaving project for no extra cost. The watershed district will provide planting designs and free plants for residents to transplant into the rain garden. Residents are responsible for watering and maintaining the rain garden.
The City of St. Paul will hold a meeting on the proposed Hewitt-Tatum RSVP project on Thursday, November 10 from 6:30-8:30pm at Hancock Recreation Center, 1610 Hubbard Ave, St. Paul. Residents will have the opportunity to ask questions about the boulevard rain gardens in addition to other issues.
See the Rain Garden Fact Sheet below to see photos of boulevard rain gardens. Additionally, over 60 boulevard rain gardens are being installed as part of the Blair-Griggs RVSP project (see map). Curb cuts and depressions were completed in fall 2011 and planting will occur in spring 2012.
If you would like to sign up for a boulevard rain garden, contact Barb Mundahl at 651-266-6112 or Barbara.Mundahl@ci.stpaul.mn.us. The deadline to sign up for a rain garden is April 1, 2012.
