Raingardens of West Michigan, Low Impact Development & Stormwater

Rain gardens keep stormwater where it falls, and help to prevent stormwater pollution and erosion. Water and pollutants soak into the soil and are taken up by plants instead of washing into rivers, lakes and streams. 

Rain Gardens of West Michigan is WMEAC's community stormwater education project, founded in 2002. The rain garden program is also a key part of WMEAC's Teach for the Watershed school program.

WMEAC is the proud owner of raingardens.org, the premier rain garden web site on the internet since 2002.

WMEAC's low impact development work is focused primarily in the City of Grand Rapids and on West Michigan communities, but through our project website and beautiful rain gardens we have connected with people all over the world.

Rain Gardens and Low Impact Development

Rain gardens are designed to absorb stormwater on site, a form of Low Impact Development (LID). At WMEAC, we use rain gardens, our green roof, and other local LID examples to educate people about stormwater problems and solutions. Our intial rain garden project was funded by the City of Grand Rapids, the Frey Foundation, the Steelcase Foundation, and the Grand Rapids Community Foundation.

As most of our urban and suburban surface water pollution problems are caused by stormwater, it seemed logical that one of the best strategies to prevent this kind of pollution would be to put the stormwater somewhere else. Rain gardens seemed like a good alternative, and also seemed like an effective way to educate people about stormwater problems.

Since our project began in 2002, rain gardens have captured the imaginations of people everywhere. Low impact development strategies keep stormwater where it falls, reducing loads on aging urban infrastructure and helping prevent stormwater pollution. Low impact development uses such features as porous paving, rain gardens, green roofs, water storage and reuse, native landscaping, and many other green practices.

The Center of the Universe: WMEAC's LID Teaching Tool

WMEAC is housed in the Center of the Universe, the first zero-stormwater discharge commercial site in Grand Rapids. This gives us the best teaching tool for stormwater management we could have: our office. We have a showcase green roof with an observation deck, and a rain garden off the parking lot that is so beautiful when in bloom that it has been featured in three national magazines. We welcome visitors to our office, but please call and make reservations for tours. In the meantime, visit our rain garden website here