Rain Garden Makes a Splash in Newport

Scenic Aquidneck, Preserve RI’s partnership with the Preservation Society of Newport County, the Aquidneck Land Trust, and the van Beuren Charitable Foundation, has just completed its latest project in Newport. To better handle stormwater run-off at Marble House, the coalition constructed a 2,800-square-foot rain garden. The goal is to reduce pollution and mitigate flooding at this historic site. The garden has a static holding capacity of 25,000 gallons. During heavy rain events, it can hold up to 38,000 gallons while it drains.

As global warming spurs extreme weather events, rain gardens have the potential to protect Aquidneck Island’s historic sense of place in an aesthetic and eco-friendly way.  According to Terry Sullivan, Executive Director of the Aquidneck Land Trust, “we [also] thought of it as a demonstration site, where people could come, or we could bring groups and show them this rain garden as a way to inspire them to do something similar at their own homes or within their own properties.”

Preserve RI is proud of its partnership in the Scenic Aquidneck Coalition. Since its founding, the coalition has restored hundreds of feet of stone walls, restored classic ocean-front views by burying power lines along Second and Third Beach in Middletown, and documented the remaining, historic barns across Aquidneck Island.

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