Rain garden makes a splash for local school

Landscape architect and environmental studies master’s student Catherine Orr saw her graduate project as a way to connect with a local school and a community about water and the importance of rainwater management.

“I approached Oak and Orca Bioregional School about my idea for a rainwater system,” Orr says, because “the school teaches project-based learning and both teachers and students were excited about the design process.”

And after a nine-month design and planning process, a new rainwater system and rain garden are now working, entertaining and educating at the school—an accomplishment shared by Orr, the school and community partners including the City of Victoria, UVic, the CRD, Mitacs, Real Estate Foundation, Murdoch de Greef Inc, Vancity and RBC Blue Water Project.

“Our partners were very interested and supportive of this project,” says Orr. “Education, collaboration and creativity are key to improving how we manage urban rainwater.”

The rainwater system runs almost the entire length of the school site, starting with water collection from the building's roof into a 960-litre cistern, flowing through an educational play feature, into a bioswale (a linear trench with specialized soil and plants) and ending with a native plant rain garden. The entire system is gravity fed and designed to manage the majority of rain that falls throughout the year. Rainwater collection projects are also a boon for municipal storm sewer systems, as they lessen peak load during periods of heavy rainfall.

“Teaching children the importance of water," explains Orr, "is a step toward better water management in the future.”