Case Study: City of Superior Rain Gardens

City of Superior
Wastewater Treatment Division
51 East First Street
Superior, WI 54880

The Issues:

  • Stormwater runoff
  • Erosion from roof runoff

“The best place to start is our own back yard” - Bonita Martin, SWWTP

“We ought to be practicing what we’re preaching” - Bonita Martin, SWWTP

Demonstrate effectiveness of rain gardens in a region with heavy clay soils, harsh winters, and deep frost.

Features:

  • demonstration Rain gardens in Superior
  • Different situations and construction techniques used
  • One smaller hand-dug garden typical of a residential rain garden
  • Dug by Woodland Hills students
  • Planted by community members as part of a rain garden workshop
  • Native plants
  • Rainbarrels used to direct roof runoff to gardens

How the project came about:

  • Bonita Martin developed proposal
  • Grant from Great Lakes Commission’s Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control