Construction has started on a new rain garden in Three Oaks.

Three Oaks Parks and Recreation Board Chair Ira Johnson tells us the rain garden is being installed right next to the village hall to help improve stormwater management, prevent erosion, and create a natural habitat for wildlife.

“There was a drainage problem on the north side of the building because of an asphalt driveway that was not used much and was pretty old, so storm water was puddling there and it was doing a bit of damage to the building,” Johnson said.

A rain garden is essentially a hole in the ground that water can drain into, and planted in a rain garden is vegetation that can filter the water and survive inundation. In this case, the rain garden is about 30 feet long.

Johnson says a team of volunteers is coming in soon to plant the vegetation and flowers.

“The beauty will come fairly quickly because it’s mostly perennials and there are pollinator perennials that draw bees and butterflies and therefore larval stages of butterflies perennials that feed birds, so there’ll be more birds.”

Johnson says another benefit of the rain garden is that it will enhance the nearby Chamberlain Path, which takes people all around downtown attractions.

Johnson is going to be outside the Three Oaks Village Hall this Saturday during the Halloween celebration to answer questions from the public about the project, which is expected to be finished in a couple of weeks. He says as rain events become more severe and less predictable, solutions like rain gardens are being used nationwide to help prevent flooding.

The project’s construction cost is about $15,000.