Healthy oceans, waves, and beaches start upstream. We can all play a part in protecting clean water, reducing flooding, and creating climate resilience. Rain gardens and other nature-based solutions are beautiful, resilient features that you can add to your yard to protect our waterways and waves from pollution.
When it rains, a lot of water that would naturally sink into the soil is blocked by hard surfaces like concrete sidewalks, asphalt roads, parking lots, and rooftops. The displaced water is quickly funneled into gutters, storm drains, and waterways that ultimately flow out to the ocean.
All of the pollution that collects on these hard surfaces is swiftly washed out to the ocean.
Pollution we can see, like:
And things we can't see, like:
The volume of stormwater can also cause flooded streets or overwhelm sewer systems, contributing to sewage spills that flow downstream.
Stormwater is a huge source of water pollution - but it doesn't have to be.
Rainwater retention features can help guide rain into contours in the ground, slowing down and spreading out the flow of water, helping retain the rain long enough so it can sink into the soil. This turns a problem into a solution by improving drainage in your yard, reducing flooding, and buffering our communities against extreme storms.
Stormwater and runoff flow through storm drain systems out to the ocean, most often without any filtration or treatment.
Instead of becoming runoff that pollutes our beaches and coastal waterways, these features can be used to hydrate your plants and replenish local groundwater and aquifers, transforming this pollution problem into a valuable resource.
We can flip this problem into an opportunity, reimagining the grey infrastructure of pipes, concrete, and drains into nature-based solutions that function in harmony with our ecosystems.
These nature-based rainwater retention features all serve the same purpose: to make your yard or landscape less flat, direct rainwater toward plant roots, and slow the flow of runoff. They can also help tackle problems of poor drainage or flooding.
In a well-designed rain garden or other retention feature, water will drain into the soil in less than a day. No need to worry about mosquitoes or standing water!
Plants are crucial to the functioning of these nature-based solutions, soaking up extra water, pollutants, and nutrients that impact our waterways downstream. Their root systems create healthy, spongy, non-compacted soil with more capacity to absorb water.
Using plants native to your region will provide the most robust root systems, the best climate adaptation, and the best drought tolerance while also boosting pollinator biodiversity and reducing the need for polluting chemical fertilizers.
A rain garden is a basin-shaped contour in your yard that can retain rainwater and let it soak in. Similar to a bowl or a small crater, this low spot in the landscape prevents water from running off into the street.
Rain gardens can be sized to fit big or small yards, and can help manage large volumes of water flowing from a roof gutter downspout or running off of a hard surface (like a parking lot or sidewalk).
A rain garden should be placed at least five to 10 feet away from the foundation of a building so it does not cause any drainage issues. Most downspouts dump water right next to the side of a house or building, and will need to be guided with sloped soil, a pipe, splash block, or downspout diverter to drain into the rain garden instead.
Rain gardens are typically shallow (six to eight inches deep) with gentle curves and sloped edges. They are tilted or sloped away from a house or building, with an overflow outlet on the lowest side. An overflow is to direct extra water in case the rain garden fills up. The overflow can be directed to another nature-based feature or into a traditional drainage system.
The soil excavated to create a rain garden can be used to make berms around the edge of the rain garden basin or small hills around your yard to plant on.
The best way to lay out plants in a rain garden is to group them by “hydrozone,” or how much water they can tolerate. Plants at the lowest point should be able to tolerate the most water and typically are species found in wetlands or seasonally wet areas. These resilient plants can handle both flooding and dry conditions.
Plants on higher ground, further from the bottom of the slope, do not need to be as tolerant of extreme wet and dry conditions. Most native plants and groundcovers that are available locally should work fine.
A bioswale is a linear trench or creek-shaped low spot in a yard or landscape that is planted with living plants and roots. These features are typically long and skinny in shape and can have decorative rocks, mulch, sand, or plants in the lowest point.
The soil removed from the center of the swale can be used to form berms along the edges, adding dimension and water storage capacity to the swale.
Similar to a rain garden, a bioswale should have an overflow spill area where overflow water is directed, and be located at least five to 10 feet away from the foundation of a building so it does not cause any drainage issues.
Plants in a bioswale should also be grouped by hydrozone, or how much water they can tolerate.
Plants at the bottom of the bioswale should be resilient species that can handle both flooding and
dry conditions. Plants further from the bottom of the slope do not need to be as tolerant of extreme wet and dry conditions, giving you plenty of options to experiment with.
Usually if a swale is filled with rocks it is called a “dry creek.” Rocks can be beneficial to slowing
down and dispersing the energy of water, but can also quickly make a project pretty expensive. Filling the whole swale with rocks is not necessary for it to function well, and the rocks can be substituted for much cheaper options such as mulch, sand, gravel, or more plants
A buffer garden is a patch of native plants that is strategically positioned to filter runoff before it enters a body of water or storm drain system. These are also called “vegetative filter strips” and can be used to reduce erosion and prevent sediment and nutrients from polluting sensitive water bodies.
If your front yard is sloped toward the street, you can add a buffer garden at the bottom edge that borders the road or sidewalk. Densely planting native plants in a buffer zone will slow down and capture runoff from your roof and lawn, allowing more rain to be absorbed on your property.
While the plant roots below ground will soak up water, the plant material above ground also acts as a natural barrier to slow the flow of water and trap sediments. This helps prevent sediment and runoff from flowing into our storm drains and local waterways.
If you are lucky enough to live next to the beach or a water body, buffer gardens on the edge of your property can directly protect your neighboring waterway while also preventing erosion on the shoreline. The deep root systems of densely planted native plants reinforce and support these sensitive transition zones between water and land, enabling sediment to build up and not wash away as easily during storms.
You can learn more about other water harvesting strategies and ways to protect clean water in our free "Getting Started with Ocean Friendly Gardens Guide."
Healthy oceans, waves, and beaches need healthy watersheds. We can all do our part to reduce pollution from our yards and create more Ocean Friendly Gardens.
Don’t have a yard of your own, or looking to expand your impact to the community? You can volunteer with your local Surfrider chapter to create and steward more Ocean Friendly Gardens, or support our action by becoming a Surfrider member.