Kansas City Resident Highlight: Leslie Mark

By Maddie Ball, Deep Roots’ Outreach and Education Program Coordinator
Footage and Interviews by: Cydney Ross, Deep Roots’ Outdoor Education Manager

Early last year, Kansas City resident Leslie Mark decided to transform her residential landscape into a native garden. Inspired by years of learning about the benefits of native plants, Leslie was hopeful that the change would help manage her stormwater runoff while providing habitat for wildlife.

Leslie mentions in the video above that her landscape includes a steep hill. This causes storm water to move down her yard into a creek that feeds Brush Creek and eventually the Missouri River. Native plants have deep, complex root systems. Because of this, storm water seeps deeper into the ground, moves through the land at a slower speed, and its pollutants are filtered out before the water enters our streams and rivers.

Clean water is a major benefit achieved by planting native plants. In fact, Johnson County, Kansas encourages clean storm water through its “Contain the Rain” program. Residents can Contain the Rain with native plants, rain gardens, native trees, and rain barrels. If you are a resident in any of the cities listed below, you can apply for the Contain the Rain program to receive a reimbursement of up to 50% of the costs to install rain-containing infrastructure, Lenexa residents are eligible for up a 75% reimbursement for certain projects. Visit their webpage to learn more and find out how you can improve water quality in your city!

Cities that can apply for Contain the Rain services:

· De Soto
· Fairway
· Gardner
· Lake Quivira
· Leawood
· Lenexa
· Merriam
· Mission
· Mission Hills
· Mission Woods