Lakeview Rain Garden 2005

The Shell Rock River Watershed District and other agencies partnered with Southwest Middle School to alert the community on the importance of keeping harmful chemicals out of storm sewers.  The students helped by planting a rain garden at Lakeview Park.  A rain garden is a landscaped area which lies in a slightly sunken part of land.  The garden is used to collect and retain water, keeping it from running over roads and into lakes and filtering it before it seeps into the ground.  The students planted about 700 plants with 30 different varieties. Lakeview Park was once a wetland before it was developed into soccer fields and remnants of its past appear each spring when the area floods.  The students hope their garden will curtail some of the flooding and prevent water from running over the road into the lake, carrying with it harmful chemicals.