Cooperator: Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources
Project Chief: William R. Selbig
Location: Madison
Project Number: BQY31
Period of Project: July 2005 to September 2007
updated 2/20/07
Problem
Guidelines on the construction of a rain garden are still in the early stages
of development. Criteria for locating and constructing these infiltration devices
keep the homeowner in mind and therefore do not require a lot of time or money.
However, in order to increase the efficiency of a rain garden, soils are often
engineered to maximize infiltration of runoff. This can, in some cases, be cost-prohibitive
for individual landowners.
Standing water in two rain gardens after a
storm event in Madison, Wis. |
Objective
The purpose of the investigation was to assist faculty at Edgewood College in
the acquisition and installation of all equipment necessary to monitor two rain
gardens for a complete water balance. Data collected from this study will be
used to understand how rain gardens perform under a variety of adjustments to
soil, vegetation, and area. The study area will act as a field laboratory to
educate students of Edgewood and UW-Madison.
Approach
All equipment was purchased and installed by USGS personnel. Calibration of electronic
sensors will be performed initially by the USGS but will be the responsibility
of Edgewood College thereafter. Datalogger programming and data management was
set up by the USGS but will be managed by Edgewood College.
Progress (January 2006 to June 2006)
All equipment has been installed and calibrated. The datalogger program was written
and downloaded to the datalogger. Data is actively being collected and stored
at Edgewood College. Instruction on operation and maintenance of equipment as
well as retrieval of data from dataloggers was provided to Edgewood faculty and
students.
Plans (July 2006 to December 2006)
Assist in calibration of sensors during storm runoff event. Provide insight on
how best to capture sub-sample of rain garden effluent for water-quality analysis.
Reports
There are no reports planned at this time.
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