Philadelphia Water Department Joins Community in Celebrating Washington Lane Rain Garden Managing Germantown’s Stormwater

The community well celebrate the completion of this rain garden, located at Clearview Street and Washington Lane, at 3 p.m. on Wednesday November 9. Credit: Philadelphia Water

Stormwater management never looked so good.

On Wednesday, November 9, community members, elected officials and watershed advocates will be gathering a few steps from the busy Washington Lane Station in Germantown to cut the ribbon at a newly upgraded green stormwater system that manages stormwater runoff from the station’s parking lot and surrounding streets.

Located at Clearview Street and Washington Lane, this truly beautiful rain garden is a stunning example of what a collaborative effort to build green infrastructure around Philadelphia’s transit infrastructure can do for a neighborhood.
Community partners on the project, also known as Clearview Community Park, include SEPTA, 8th District City Councilwoman Cindy Bass, the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership and the Chew & Belfield Neighbors Club.

The ribbon cutting ceremony will kick off at 3 p.m.
This green stormwater infrastructure project supports the City’s sustainability efforts and Philadelphia Water’s Green City, Clean Waters program.

By leveraging institutional partnerships and resources, City partners are managing stormwater to reduce combined sewer overflows that can hurt water quality in our rivers and streams.
Using specially selected plants, soil and stone, the rain garden manages stormwater runoff from nearby streets and the adjacent SEPTA parking lot. For every inch of precipitation that falls, the rain garden will manage over 26,400 gallons of stormwater. During a typical year, that adds up to more than 1.7 million gallons of polluted water that would otherwise end up in the sewer system and potentially cause overflows that can harm local waterways.

As a part of the Green City, Clean Waters program, this investment in green stormwater infrastructure helps the City of Philadelphia meet is pledge to reduce combined sewer overflows by 85% citywide by 2036, meeting federal Clean Water Act requirements and improving the water quality of local rivers and streams.

Philadelphia is leading one of the largest green stormwater infrastructure programs in the nation, choosing to manage its stormwater with green systems that beautify neighborhoods and improve the urban environment. Partnering with organizations and agencies like SEPTA allows Philadelphia Water to attain those goals in a more cost effective way and support investment in a broad range of Philadelphia infrastructure.

Across the city, hundreds of green tools like rain gardens, stormwater tree planters, curbside bumpouts and more are now helping to manage over 1.5 billion gallons of stormwater during a typical year—and we’re just getting started. Over the next 20 years, Philadelphia will greatly expand the Green City, Clean Waters program, representing a ten-fold increase in the existing green infrastructure network.

In order to achieve that growth, we’ll be working with partners across the city—from our sister agencies like Parks and Recreation, the Streets Department and SEPTA to community groups, homeowners and businesses.

If you want to get a better idea of what a greener Philly will look like, join us on November 9 to learn more about the Washington Lane rain garden and how this space is a template for future collaborations that will allow us bring Green City, Clean Waters investments to transit locations across the city.

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