Hokulani Elementary School Rain Garden

Description

In partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Green Apple Day of Service, Surfrider supported the USGBC Hawaii Chapter and Roth Ecological Designs, among other partners, to install a rain garden at Hokulani Elementary School in the Manoa neighborhood in Oahu, Hawaii.

This rain garden involved directing rain gutter downspouts from the school's administrative building into the rain garden. It also involved the excavation of the existing garden and placement of filter material at the base of the trench. For the installation, SF volunteers worked alongside elementary school children, parents and community members to prep the rain garden with sand and amended soil, and plant native plants including Aeae (Hawaiian desert-thorn), Pohinahina (monk's pepper) and Akia.

The event engaged around 100 volunteers. With an annual average rainfall of 30 inches, the rain garden is estimated to capture roughly 70,000 gallons per year to put back into the island's aquifer.

The design was done by Roth Ecological, and other partners included Geotech Solutions, Hunter, Hawaiian Earth Products, Ameron, Tien Nursery, Songscape, PBR WISE and Philip White Architects.