If you’ve ever eaten one of the meaty sandwiches from Rath’s Butcher and Deli, in Stewartsville, New Jersey, it’s no surprise their parking lot is often full of eager customers.
But you may not appreciate the steps that Rath’s has taken to protect New Jersey’s clean water and a healthy Lopatcong Creek at that very same parking lot.
Rath’s takes their product seriously. They are third-generation butchers from German immigrants. They sell locally raised and free-range pork, poultry and premium beef.
“We cater to everyone including those dual income families or that mom that just didn’t get the time to make her family a home cooked meal,” says their website. They are also concerned about their community’s water.
Here’s the issue: Brick-and-mortar businesses need slabs of asphalt for customers to park. When it rains, stormwater comes sheeting off the asphalt and roofs, collecting road grime and other contaminants before speeding down our roadways to the nearest storm drain on its way to local streams, like Lopatcong Creek.
In a more natural setting, the rain would seep into the soil and more gradually recharge groundwater. Riverside vegetation would also act as a natural filter for pollutants. But all of that is lost when natural areas are paved over.
Environmental engineers have a solution, called rain gardens. Rain gardens are manmade drainage structures, known as “green infrastructure,” that mimic nature. They filter runoff through soil and plants to mitigate the impacts of pavement, curbing pollution and easing flood risk.
Rath’s Deli worked with the Lopatcong Creek Initiative to create a 1,400-square-foot rain garden outside the butcher shop. The rain garden is designed to capture runoff from a rainstorm which dumps up to 3.3 inches of rain falls in 24 hours, according to Juniper Leifer, project manager for the Lopatcong Creek Initiative. Such storms are frequent; the rain garden at Rath’s is expected to remove 95% of pollutants from the stormwater it treats.
Local business owners are often skeptical of the costs and disruptions that might accompany environmental projects, said Leifer. The owners of Rath’s Deli, however, came to be strong supporters of the rain garden concept.
Over a year, the installation is designed to capture and treat 140,000 gallons of stormwater, reducing the flow of pollutants like nitrogen and phosphorous by 95 percent. They also look nice, providing a natural border to a parking area.
Leifer said the original design was adapted by a team of designers at Rutgers University to account for the needs of the business, along with the challenges of the local geology.
The rain garden at Rath’s has sparked a lot of public interest, Leifer said, and the Lopatcong Creek Initiative now has four similar projects in the works.
“We are here to build bridges with local businesses and communities to work together and make a real difference in ways that benefit everybody,” Leifer said.
Conservation groups like hers are looking for other businesses, developers and schools who are interested in creating more rain gardens – and building more bridges.