Rain Garden Grants Available For Dearborn Residents

DEARBORN, MI — The city of Dearborn is offering residents up to $1,000 in grant money to enhance their property with a rain garden. Rain gardens are part of environmentally-friendly landscaping that benefits the community and helps protect the Rouge River watershed.

Sustainability and green infrastructure have come to the forefront of city planning in Dearborn and this new program is made possible by a Green Infrastructure Champions Grant the City received from the Great Lakes Commission.

“The purpose of this program is to build a partnership between residents and the municipal government in order to reduce stress on the City’s storm drains and minimize urban storm water runoff generated from homes,” said Jeffrey M. Polkowski, planner for the City of Dearborn. “At the same time, it beautifies residential landscapes.”

Rain gardens are great for the health of the Rouge River watershed because they and other green infrastructure provide natural filtration processes and remediation of storm water.

A green infrastructure grant will reimburse 50 percent of the homeowner’s cost of creating a rain garden, with a cap of $1,000 awarded to the homeowner.

Applicants for the program should take note to the following things:

• Architect fees are not included in the grant.
• Personal labor is not eligible but construction labor costs from an approved contractor are permitted.
• Rain gardens do not include vegetable plants.
• Receipts for materials are reviewed according to the city’s auditing process.

Residents interested in applying can find the application and guides to building a rain garden at www.cityofdearborn.org.

For more information call Polkowski at 313-943-2170 or email jpolkowski@ci.dearborn.mi.us.

Photo courtesy City of Dearborn

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