Cadillac Rain Garden
Muskegon River Watershed Assembly—Brenda Irish
At the local library parking lot, stormwater is currently running directly into Lake Cadillac, taking with it any debris and oils/greases from automobiles. Brenda has spearheaded a rain garden project that will collect the stormwater, allowing it to be filtered as it soaks into the ground. She procured letters of support from the City of Cadillac, Cadillac Public Library, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), and the Wexford Conservation District (WCD), and obtained the volunteer services of two MDEQ engineers and a WCD board member (landscape architect) to size and design the garden. Dunbar Excavating is donating the excavating and grading, and the City of Cadillac is supplying the top soil and compost, along with an educational sign so the public will understand the project’s purpose and importance. The plants will be selected with assistance from the WCD.
Brenda’s expertise in the area of public communication paid off when the project piqued the interest of the local Audubon Society, who will be building and installing bird houses at the rain garden to further enhance the garden’s beauty, and library staff who will create a rain garden display for its patrons and distribute rain garden flyers created by Brenda. The Cadillac Area Community Foundation, through which the rain garden grant is being funded, has also expressed an interest in installing a rain garden on property they own and have contacted Brenda asking for her assistance.
This project has high visibility in the community and will go a long way toward raising public awareness of the impact of development on our natural resources and how good things can be done to reduce that impact.
