You Could Be Eligible for a Free Rain Garden

Residents living near Sawmill Pond (in the Davisville area of town, extending down toward Ten Rod Road) may be eligible for free landscaping of sorts.

As part of the Sawmill Pond Restoration Project, homeowners in the area are eligible for a free, grant-funded rain garden to be designed and installed right on their property. 

A rain garden is a subtle depression in the landscape, filled with native plants. These gardens help collect and filter stormwater, preventing it from polluting local streams, ponds (like Sawmill Pond) and lakes. They can also prevent flooding on properties. 

Those who are interested or would like more information are invited to attend an information session tonight (Wednesday, Nov. 14) at Davisville Elementary School (50 East Court) at 7 p.m. 

The following streets are either completely in or partially in the Sawmill Pond Watershed. If you have a home or business on one of these streets, you could be eligible for the free rain garden.

• Abby Lane
• Alison Court
• Amy Lane
• Brookside Drive
• Caddy Rock Road
• Clearwater Drive
• Crest Drive
• Edgewood Drive
• Ewing Road
• Grant Drive
• Harrington Road
• Hornet Road
• Iron Horse Terrace
• King Phillip Circle
• Lake Drive
• Lydia Road
• Midway Drive
• Misty Meadows Lane
• New Lexington Road
• Nichols Road
• Oak Tree Drive
• Old Baptist Road (portions)
• Parkside Way
• Pat Circle
• Pebble Road
• Pilgrim Drive
• Sachem Road
• South Road (portions)
• School Street (portions)
• West Court
• West Davisville Road
• Yorktown Road (portions)

The following are "significant size, non-residential properties" that are also within the watershed:

• Wickford Junction Plaza
• West Davisville Road industrial/commercial complex
• Stony Lane Elementary School
• Davisville Elementary School
• Ocean State Soccer
• Calvary Chapel Greenmeadow

In the past two years, the . 

According to a 2005 report by Patty Gambarini of the Southern Rhode Island Conservation District, Sandhill Brook was dammed to create Sawmill Pond early in Colonial days and last used to power industry before the Civil War. Over the years its 65-foot-wide dam has been reduced to about one foot in height, and sediment has filled the impoundment to the point that it resembles a marsh more than a pond – which feeds into the Hunt River.

Studies of sediment in the brook indicate that "average bacterial levels exceeding those of other Hunt tributaries in 2007 through 2009 by a factor of five, all indicating impairment."

Learn more about the town's projects for Sawmill Pond here.