The bioswale in Brookfield on Monroe Avenue, in back of Tischler’s is a wonderful start to solving the flooding our village tends to experience. It’s a brilliant landscaping element that helps with excess storm water. This is just what the doctor ordered for our community.
A bioswale is a type of rain garden, usually built on or with a gentle slope, to help slow down storm water runoff. The plants growing in the Monroe Avenue bioswale may look like weeds to some, but are actually native Illinois plants.
Native plants tend to have very deep roots, which act as a filter for any extra water. This filtration process helps keep contaminates out of the water. This water will eventually be somebody’s drinking water.
I can’t stress this enough; we all live downstream from someone. I would love to see more bioswales and/or rain gardens around our village, along with some education on this natural process.
Thank you to the village for giving this storm water filtering endeavor a try. It shows that you are geared up for the future.
Kristin Gembara
Brookfield
