In October of 2015, the Town of Harrison entered into an agreement with the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) to incorporate two green demonstration projects based upon a plan put together by Rutgers Cooperative Extension to help Harrison comply with its new combined sewer permit, which was effective as of July 1, 2015. The Library Rain Garden is the first of these two projects and hopefully many more to come.
On Saturday October 28, 2017, the Harrison TIDE planted a community rain garden on the east and west lawns of the Harrison Public Library. Rutgers Collaborative Extension designed twin kidney shaped gardens filled with specific soils, mulch and various perennial plants and shrubs that could absorb a maximum of approximately 2,800 gallons of water per storm and as much as 38,000 gallons per year based on average rainfall. Each garden is supplied by a disconnected rain gutter downspout from the library’s roof which will no longer be connected to the local sewers.
The plumbing, excavation and materials for these new kidney shaped gardens were donated to the group by Fields Construction Company of Hoboken. The plants were donated by Jersey Water Works and then turned over to the volunteers from the Town of Harrison including the Harrison Lions Club, the Harrison East Newark Elks, the National Honor Society, the Environmental Clubs of Washington Middle School and Harrison High School as well as Boy Scouts from Troop 304. These members of our community worked for several hours to plant the garden as Rutgers Cooperative Extension supervised the planting of their vision.