The City of Charles Sturt is helping to protect South Australia’s marine ecosystems through the construction of raingardens in Flinders Park.
The gardens work by filtering stormwater as it flows down through plants and layers of sand and gravel into a drainage pipe at the base of the garden.
Leaves and litter stay at the surface where they break down or can be collected later, silt and oils are trapped in the soil and break down over time, and nutrients are used by the plants for growth.
The filtered stormwater flows through the pipes into the River Torrens, and then ultimately into the ocean.
Raingardens can be built into verges (between the footpath and the road), or into the roads themselves.
Mayor Angela Evans, said, “Raingardens not only clean and filter water before it reaches the Torrens and the Gulf of St Vincent, they also support healthy plants and they look good.
“They can even create local cool spots as plants use the water captured in the raingarden to grow”.
The project, which is supported by the Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges
Natural Resources Management Board, will see six raingardens per year constructed within the catchment area.
