Trees are planted in the Niakwa Trail Rain Garden along St. Anne’s Road. (FACEBOOK)
WINNIPEG — A garden that filters rain water from a 9,800-square-foot Winnipeg parking lot has opened in St. Vital.
The Niakwa Trail Rain Garden features deep-rooted native trees, shrubs, grasses and flowers that will trap and remove sediment and other pollutants from rain runoff.
“We are so excited to see this project finally become a reality,” said Megan Krohn, program manager with the Manitoba Eco-Network. “Many other cities have already adopted green infrastructure projects like this into their city planning, and we are happy to get a chance to prove how it can work here in Winnipeg too.”
Water leaving the garden and entering the nearby Seine River will be cleaner than when it arrived.
The project was a joint effort by the Manitoba Eco-Network and Save Our Seine, with experts from HTFC Planning and Design and the City of Winnipeg.
Earlier this week, volunteers from St. George School, École Lacerte and the community gathered together to plant over 600 native plants before the grand unveiling of the Niakwa Trail Rain Garden.
The garden is located along St. Anne’s Road near the Niakwa Trail, and will attract pollinators and song birds to the site.
