Rain Garden Stewardship in Gowanus, Brooklyn 9.27.23

NYC is building thousands of rain gardens to improve water quality and absorb stormwater.

The RAIN Coalition came together to ensure these climate investments are stewarded over the long-term, provide native habitat and neighborhood cooling, and provide pathways to permanent, good-paying jobs.

What is a rain garden?

Learn more here.

Our Work

The RAIN Coalition is on a mission to provide a new model of rain garden stewardship that integrates:

  • The RAIN Coalition believes that NYC can do better to steward the 12,000 rain gardens that have been constructed over the past 12 years.

    Currently, NYC is not meeting its own standards for green infrastructure (GI) maintenance as detailed by a 2019 NYC Comptroller report, which found that “the majority were not sufficiently maintained to ensure their proper functioning and appearance.”

    Since 2021, the Coalition has been piloting stewardship of 57 rain gardens in the Bronx River, Gowanus Canal, and Newtown Creek watersheds. RAIN will expand the pilot to ten additional rain gardens in the Flushing Creek watershed in 2024.

  • RAIN is piloting a workforce development program that provides training and employment opportunities for residents in rain garden maintenance and landscaping.

    The RAIN Coalition believes that green infrastructure is a catalyst for economic empowerment and skill-building within local communities. RAIN links workforce development programs together with rain garden stewardship.

    RAIN envisions a future where New York City's expanding network of rain gardens serves a pathway for green jobs as well as a solution to the challenges posed by sewage overflows into local waterways and flooding due to climate change.

  • RAIN’s model for rain garden stewardship is rooted in local communities. Partner groups offer robust opportunities for volunteerism and the integration of youth development into rain garden care. Partner groups also make explicit the connection between on-street rain gardens and the local waterways that benefit from their water quality improvement services and offer many opportunities to enjoy and experience the water first-hand.

  • Rain gardens can be designed with native pollinator plants to provide critical urban habitat for birds, bees, and butterflies.

    Check out Gowanus Canal’s Plant List for the 6th St Green Corridor and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden’s List of Native Plants for NYC Rain Gardens to learn more.

    You can also buy native plants through our partners!

    Gowanus Canal Conservancy’s Lowland Nursery

    Newtown Creek Alliance’s Native Nursery

  • “The RAIN Coalition’s stewardship of green infrastructure is a prime example of how to combat climate change and build a resilient future by strengthening workforce and community development.”

    —NYC Comptroller Brad Lander

  • “The RAIN Coalition has been a terrific partner in helping to ensure New York City’s rain gardens are well maintained so they can do their job – absorb rain water, reduce flooding and improve the health of local waterways.”

    —Deputy Commissioner for Sustainability, NYC DEP Angela Licata

  • “It’s important to emphasize learning from the folks who have already been doing the work. NYC Parks has a long history of working with neighborhood stewards and bringing them first into entry level positions with the agency and then into good paying permanent jobs.”

    —Nichole Henderson, Director of Stewardship, NYC Parks