West Michigan Academy of Environmental Sciences

Raingarden and Prairie

4463 Leonard NW
Walker, MI 49544

THE SCHOOL

As one of the first charter schools in the area, WMAES provides a great learning environment and a beautiful campus.  The academy currently has 480 students enrolled for classes K-11. 
The campus lies on 62 acres with a small wood lot and a nice prairie.  This raingarden was completed by students of the Environmental Science Class in the fall of 2004.

THE STORMWATER PROBLEM

As with all schools and development there is a need for parking spaces.  This campus is no different.  The parking lot has stormwater drains that connect to the sanitary system for the City of Walker.  Alongside one of the classroom buildings is a lawn drain.  This is our area of focus and where the raingarden is located.  We noticed some erosion and sediment depositing was occurring near and around the lawn drain.  Therefore this is the perfect spot for stormwater capture and infiltration.

The RAINGARDEN

The students began this project by getting their hands dirty and digging out the existing soils surrounding the drain.  Most of the soils were returned to the area leaving enough removal to produce a dip in the garden.  This is done so the grade of the garden stays below grade of the drain.  If a heavy rain occurs, the garden can retain most of the water before it overflows into the drain, mimicking a spillway.  The soils are removed, then replaced, because it must be loosened for easier plant establishment and rain infiltration. 

Once the soils were returned to the site, we then began planting the beautiful native prairie species.  This is when the students really enjoyed themselves as a group.  The manual labor was fun for some, but the true joy came from planting the garden.  Many of the plants came from the prairie located on campus.  The students collected the plants and harvested some seeds to germinate.  A portion of the plants came from the Plaster Creek Native Plant Nursery.

THE PRAIRIE

The students of WMAES are very lucky to have a prairie located on campus.  The school has mowed a small path through it so the students have an opportunity to walk through the middle and enjoy the sights and sounds of the grassland ecosystem.  Many native birds and insects frequent this habitat and it represents our ability to rejuvenate a presettlement landscape.  Once inhabiting the Lower West Michigan landscape, prairies are now mostly limited to nature centers and some state lands.  Reincorporating native landscapes is an important tool for education, sustainability and low impact development.