To visit the Rainwater Garden—in Waverly parking lot at SU’s Campus—take the Connective Corridor bus routes 443 or 543 to University Avenue.

Syracuse University will soon install its first rain garden to enhance campus sustainability by reducing stormwater runoff from the Waverly parking lot. The Waverly Rain Garden, an SU Showcase project, is scheduled to be built on April 10, just outside of the Henry Center on a grass-covered hill within the parking lot, located at the corner of South Crouse and Waverly avenues.

A rain garden is a sunken garden designed to absorb rainwater runoff from surrounding areas such as roofs, driveways, walkways and compacted lawns. Stormwater flows into the garden and slowly seeps into the ground, acting as a natural filter for runoff contaminants and reducing the amount of rainwater entering storm drains. This helps to avoid storm system overloads that can cause erosion, water pollution, flooding and diminished groundwater.

The Waverly Rain Garden will cover 400 square feet and capture as much as 260 cubic feet, or nearly 2,000 gallons, of water runoff. It features a low-maintenance design using native plants that are highly tolerant of site conditions, such as salty runoff due to snow removal, and native groundcovers to decrease the amount of mowing required.

The rain garden was designed by SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry landscape architecture graduate student Nick Zubin-Stathopoulos. Alison Carey, a policy studies major in The College of Arts and Sciences, is recruiting volunteers to help build and plant the garden on April 10. Carey developed the initial idea for the garden as an intern at the Syracuse Center of Excellence (SyracuseCoE).

“This rain garden project is a superb example of how SU Showcase can serve as a catalyst to bring our students and campus community together to engage creatively with the great challenges of our day, such as environmental sustainability,” says SU Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric F. Spina. “It also encapsulates the notion that addressing such daunting global challenges starts locally, so a rain garden in Syracuse can, and does, make a difference.”

Waverly Rain Garden volunteers are needed to work two-hour shifts from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, April 10, weather permitting, to help install garden layers and place the plants. For more information and to volunteer, contact Carey at aecarey@syr.edu.

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Written by Will Wallak • (315) 443-5887