BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ – Deep red cardinal flowers, purple cone flowers, black-eyed Susans, and bright orange butterfly weed along with native shrubs and grasses create a beautiful pollinator garden at Governor Livingston High School. While the perennials attract bumblebees and butterflies, they also help in capturing stormwater runoff from the adjacent parking lot.
This type of garden, called a rain garden, is designed to capture and filter runoff water, reduce the amount of stormwater that goes into the drain, and, by allowing water to slowly infiltrate the ground, recharge the groundwater supply.
The rain garden, which was first installed last year, can collect more than 130,000 gallons of rainwater.
The rain garden would not have been created without the help of a National Fish and Wildlife Service grant obtained through the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program. Rutgers supervised the installation of the rain garden and on Tuesday installed a sign that describes the purpose of the rain garden.
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