Fort Wayne Offers Incentives for Rain Gardens

The following is a portion of a message we recieved from the City:

When was the last time you got money from the City of Fort Wayne ?

City Utilities is now offering either a cash payment or free plants to residential property owners inside the City limits who install a rain garden on their property.

A rain garden is an area landscaped with native plants that holds rain water runoff for a short time and helps it soak into the ground.  Rain water can be directed to the rain garden from a downspout, driveway or other hard surface area.  The rain garden is slightly below the grade of the yard so that it acts like a mini detention pond holding a few inches of rain water after a storm.  Within a day or so, the native plants in the garden help the standing water “infiltrate” into the ground.

Rain gardens have several benefits:  they can reduce the amount of runoff going into the City’s old combined sewer system.  This can mean less sewer backups and less sewage discharged to the rivers.  In areas where sewers carry stormwater only, rain gardens can help reduce erosion so less sediment goes into the storm sewers.  And because stormwater receives no treatment before it goes into a pond, stream or river, rain gardens can help reduce pollutants in our water ways by filtering some of the stormwater before it gets into the storm sewer.  By helping soak more water into the ground, rain gardens may help replenish aquifers – drinking water sources for people with wells.

How can you qualify for the rain garden incentive?  City Utilities has established a simple process:

1.                   Complete a Rain Garden Incentive Program Application – the form is available on the City’s rain garden website at www.catchingrainfw.org or by calling City Utilities at 427-1381.

2.                   Attend a rain garden workshop – workshop dates are listed below.  The workshops are free, but advance registration is requested.  Register by calling City Utilities at 427-1381.  Following the workshops, you may request technical assistance.  Someone form the City or an Allen County Master Gardener can meet with you at your home to help you select a rain garden location and answer questions.

3.                   Sign a Rain Garden Program Agreement -- by signing the agreement, you commit to installing a rain garden and maintaining it for 3 years.  When you sign the agreement you can indicate whether you would like to receive free plants or a cash payment.

4.                   Register your rain garden.   This can be done at the www.catchingrainfw.org website or by calling City Utilities at 427-1381 .