Before

St. Andrew's Day School’s stormwater best management practices (BMPs) were installed in 2015 to address flooding concerns on the school’s playground. After rain events, the playground flooded and remained unusable for days – spoiling the students’ fun and creating additional maintenance stress on the school. Swales were installed around the playground to redirect the standing stormwater into a rain garden. The rain garden now works to capture and treat stormwater, providing an easier path for it to soak into the ground. This project helps recharge groundwater and filter out pollutants (like nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment). Water-loving plants thrive and provide habitat for local wildlife and pollinators and the playground remains dry and usable by students.

This project was selected not only to address a need of the school, but also because its runoff flows into Church Creek. Historically, Church Creek has been one of the most impaired tributaries of the South River. This creek’s subwatershed has a high percentage of impervious surfaces (hard surfaces such as parking lots and roofs that do not absorb water) and contains one of the most developed portions of Arundel Rivers’ watershed (the South, West, and Rhode rivers). Severn Grove Ecological Design, a local firm, designed and built the project.

After