In 2015, Bond Lake Public School in Richmond Hill joined the global green infrastructure movement by installing a new bioswale/rain garden.
Green infrastructure represents a way of embracing nature — and all its benefits — within an urban community.
The Bond Lake Public School rain garden will help to beautify the school grounds. More important, it will capture rainwater from the school driveway — the equivalent of nearly 5,500 bathtubs a year, in fact — which will help improve the quality of stormwater runoff entering the waterways of the Humber River watershed.
Rain gardens also:
- Protect our streams and lakes by filtering and removing pollutants.
- Restore our natural water cycle by allowing water to seep into the ground.
- Provide habitat and food for birds, butterflies and beneficial insects by using water-efficient, low-maintenance plants.
This project is a partnership involving Bond Lake Public School, York Region District School Board, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), York Region, the Town of Richmond Hill and the Lake Wilcox SNAP.