Rain gardens to reduce flooding in Dover Plains

Housatonic Valley Association’s Ten Mile River Watershed Manager, Claire Wegh, stands next to the newly installed rain gardens in Dover Plains.

Provided

Rain gardens to reduce flooding in Dover Plains

DOVER PLAINS — When it rains these days, it often pours. And all that runoff from impervious surfaces such as roofs, parking lots, roads and driveways has to go somewhere.

All too often, that flooding ends up in lakes, streams or ponds, along with pollutants collected along the way.

To prevent this from happening, the Cornwall, Conn.-based Housatonic Valley Association recently teamed up with a Dover Plains business owner and other partners to celebrate the installation of two rain gardens aimed at reducing pollution entering Wells Brook, a tributary to the Ten Mile River and a significant warm-weather refuge for native fish.

The June 7 ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at the Dover Plains McDonald’s, where owner and operator Victor Wong thanked HVA’s Ten Mile River Watershed Manager, Claire Wegh, for explaining why the streams surrounding his business are vital, in part because the carry water from Dover to Long Island Sound.

Also at the site, HVA installed interpretive signs in both English and Spanish describing the ecological diversity and importance of Wells Brook as well as the function of rain gardens and how they benefit local wildlife and communities.

“Providing an opportunity for environmental education in a diverse rural community like Dover Plains, in a spot as heavily trafficked as a McDonald’s, is an exciting example of what equitable environmental education can look like,” Wagh explained to those in attendance.

The rain gardens, which are shallow depressions in the landscape and include native plants beneficial to pollinators, filter stormwater runoff from Route 22, as well as from the McDonald’s parking lot and roof, before it reaches Wells Brook, ultimately reducing flooding and improving water quality by removing pollutants.

This type of runoff has been cited by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a major source of pollution to the nation’s waterways.

The rain gardens, which are prime examples of green infrastructure, were designed and built by Earth Tones Native Plant Nursery of Woodbury, Conn., with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Long Island Sound Futures Fund and Iroquois Gas Transmission Systems, and in partnership with McDonald’s and J.C. Wong Management.

During the unveiling ceremony, attendees were invited to tour the streambanks and learn how rain gardens protect rivers for the benefit of not only the environment, but also wildlife and humans.

The Dover Plains rain gardens are one of many projects HVA and its conservation partners are collaborating on across the Housatonic River watershed as part of its Clean, Cold and Connected Initiative. The program works to protect streams like Wells Brook, restore fish and wildlife habitat and provide opportunities for people to learn about and enjoy the rich, natural heritage of the Housatonic River.

According to the University of Connecticut NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) Program, which was created in the early 1990s to provide information, education and assistance to local land use board and commissions on how they can accommodate growth while protecting their natural resources and community character, building a rain garden at residences can also reduce the amount of pollutants that leave yards and enter nearby lakes, streams and ponds.

The NEMO Program offers a rain garden app for designing, installing and maintaining rain gardens. To learn more, visit https://nemo.uconn.edu/raingardens

For more information on the conservation and education projects underway at Housatonic Valley Association (HVA), the only conservation organization dedicated to the entire tri-state Housatonic Watershed which acts to protect the natural character and environmental health of the region from the Berkshires to Long Island Sound, visit www.hvatoday.org

Latest News

Millbrook Scout completes Eagle Scout leadership work to benefit Angels of Light

Celebrating the completion of his Eagle Scout leadership project to benefit Angels of Light on Friday, March 21, Jayden Loibl, 17, was joined by Angels of Light co-Executive Directors, Lori Cassia-Decker, left, and Danielle Mollica.

Photo by Leila Hawken

MILLBROOK — Capping a lifetime of scouting achievement, Jayden Loibl, 17, has earned the rank of Eagle Scout, completing a community project to handcraft outdoor benches and tables for the local nonprofit Angels of Light building at 28 Front St.

In addition to overseeing the construction of sturdy benches and tables that invite passersby to try them out, Loibl’s major project also created a Love Lock Pillar, and finished off the project by making stencil templates of the nonprofit’s logo to be used to identify the space and invite visitors.

Keep ReadingShow less
Amenia approves sidewalk projectalong Route 44
Amenia Town Hall
Photo by John Coston

AMENIA — Pedestrians will soon be able to walk safely between Broadway and Beekman Park, now that a construction contract has been awarded.

The planning process continued for many months, culminating in an invitation to bid. The Town Board voted unanimously at its regular meeting on Thursday, March 20, to select the lowest bidder, clearing the way for work to begin.

Keep ReadingShow less
Science confirms: It was a cold winter

Spring has officially arrived with freezing night time temperatures forecast through the first week of April.

Photo by Krista A. Briggs

Victoria Kelly, Cary Institute Environmental Monitoring Program Manager and Senior Ecologist, prepared this report.

MILLBROOK — Since 1988 the weather station at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in the Town of Washington has been keeping track of our local weather — precipitation, temperature, wind, air quality, etc.

Keep ReadingShow less
North East Fire District focuses on budget, spending

The North East Fire house on the south side of Century Boulevard.

Photo by Krista A. Briggs

MILLERTON — The commissioners of the North East Fire District recently held their monthly meeting at the firehouse to discuss their current needs and general business.

Discussion centered around the current work on the 2025 budget and proposed expenditures, which ranged from upgrading their heating/cooling system to the possibility of replacing car no. 3.

Keep ReadingShow less