CUDAHY, Wis. — The Fresh Coast Guardians are installing rain gardens to promote more green infrastructure.
The goal is to help preserve local rivers and Lake Michigan.
Emily Miller is one the interns in the Fresh Coast Guardians program with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD).
She and her colleagues recently helped a homeowner in Cudahy install a rain garden.
“Plants that get wet, we put near the down spout because that is where the water is going to come out of and then we are putting the taller plants towards the back and the shorter plants towards the front,” Miller said.
Miller said the program's goal is to use native plants and mulch to manage the impact of rainwater.
“It captures the rainwater from your roof, down into your downspout, rather than it running off into the sewers and having to be treated. It goes right into your lawn and the native plants can absorb that and manage it,” Miller said.
The Fresh Coast Guardians have installed 15 of these rain gardens around Cudahy this summer.
Jay Feiker is a project manager for MMSD. He said this project is showing local homeowners what they can do to help the environment.
“From here we could almost see the lake," Feiker said. "It’s kind of easy when you are here in Cudahy and you are right on the lake to want to protect but I think for everybody, protecting our water source where we get our drinking water is kind of an easy thing, but you just might not know how to do it, so I think helping people take that the first step. It was really key to kinda get them to understand it.”
Karen Squiers had the Fresh Coast Guardians install her rain garden in July. She said she wanted to reduce the amount of standing water in her yard.
“I would not have been able to do the work necessary to put this rain garden in my yard, so having this young group of interns and people from Fresh Coast Guardians and pick out the plants that I needed and to actually do the labor for this project. I can’t thank them enough.”
Having homeowners who are motivated to help the environment also motivates Miller.
“It’s really fulfilling being able to see how much people care about managing their water and protecting the lake," Miller said. "It’s very important to me and one of the reasons I’ve gotten into the sustainability realm of things and being able to connect with the community has just been great.”