Community Based Stormwater Plan

The Community Based Stormwater Plan is made possible by the City of Grand Rapids, The Frey Foundation, The Coca-Cola Company, and Michigan State University. WMEAC has three opportunities for you to participate.  

1. Organize a rain barrel construction party on your Grand Rapids block or in your Grand Rapids neighborhood.

WMEAC trains people to run a rain barrel workshop and to assemble the rain barrels using our kits. Our thanks to Coca-Cola for donating the barrels to make this project possible! The official Trainers then can hold one or more WMEAC workshops, and they have lots of fun doing it. WMEAC is collecting data about how much rain is being recycled by homeowners. This rain would likely have become stormwater, contributing to pollution, flooding and erosion in our local streams and rivers. Trainer's workshops fill up fast. Once you have been to a trainer's workshop, you can hold your own neighborhood workshop. Learn more here. 

2. Build a rain garden demonstration project on your block or in your neighborhood.

Homeowners, schools and neighborhood groups are putting in rain gardens with WMEAC's assistance. Rain gardens manage stormwater on site naturally, soaking rain into the ground and recharging groundwater supplies. Rain gardens enhance landscapes, parks, school campuses and provide wildlife habitat and natural beauty. For more information about raingardens, stormwater problems and solutions, and low impact development, visit www.raingardens.org.  

3. Participate in Grand Rapids' Community Based Stormwater planning meetings.

Stormwater is a serious problem in Grand Rapids. There is a cost shared by every citizen in maintaining expensive, aging infrastructure and due to the pollution of our streams, rivers and lakes. People who are interested in shaping stormwater policy in Grand Rapids are invited to join WMEAC's planning team to discuss ways to solve these problems in practical, grassroots ways, as well as how to plan policy that makes sense for the green future of our city and its residents. For more information, contact Rachel Hood (rhood@wmeac.org). Click here to download the Community Based Stormwater Flier.