A Complete Water Balance of a Rain Garden

Abstract

AbstractA bioinfiltration rain garden was retrofitted from an existing traffic island at Villanova University in 2001. It has been monitored continuously since 2003 at a 5‐min timeseries resolution and with instrumentation that would enable a water balance calculation. This 20‐year data set allows for an in‐depth analysis of the hydrologic pathways and management in the rain garden. Using physical equations and modeled data (based on real‐time measurements), a balance of all influent, stored, and effluent water within the rain garden was constructed. Analysis shows the rain garden captures 73.5% of runoff, resulting in a post‐implementation management of 86.2% of all rainfall in its watershed. In comparison to the hydrology of other land covers, implementing the rain garden resulted in the management of 37.6% more rainfall than pre‐implementation, producing a hydrological signature similar to that of cultivated land or low development levels (e.g., 30% impervious). Additionally, with the long data record, several statistical techniques were applied to determine the amount of monitoring needed for a certain level of precision in system performance assessment. For 5% uncertainty, approximately 3 years of continuous data is needed to assess performance. This analysis not only facilitates understanding the function of rain garden systems, but also provides conclusions and methodology for understanding the uncertainty associated with the extent of monitoring performed on these green stormwater infrastructure systems. These findings provide practical knowledge as monitoring of stormwater management infrastructures is becoming a more standard part of their operation.