Windward Community College

Windward Community College Low Impact Retrofit

HOK and Windward Community College (WCC) have partnered to install approximately 3,000 square feet of rain gardens and native vegetation in front of Hale 'Imiloa. This Low Impact Retrofit (LIR) is designed to capture storm water run-off from over 18,000 square feet of impervious surface from the roof, road and parking lots. The rain gardens trap and infiltrate the storm water run-off before it has a chance to carry pollutants into nearby Kea'ahala Stream and Kāne'ohe Bay.

Construction of the site began the week of March 10th, 2014 with excavation and formation of the rain garden basins and berms. Planting of native species took place during the first week of April. Students, Professors and community members helped install 2,000 native plants on the site.

Since 2014 volunteers have helped remove weeds and invasive species from the site as well as prune and propagate native vegetation. Volunteers have also maintained the structural integrity of the downspouts and the three water collection basins, all while learning about the importance of capturing and infiltrating storm water to prevent pollution. With the help of 902 volunteers and roughly 2,600 hours of community service, Hui o Ko`olaupoko is happy to announce that the maintenance of these beautiful rain gardens will be transferred to the caring hands of Windward Community College in December 2020.

Windward Community College,
Hale Imiloa, 45-720 Keaahala Road Kaneohe, HI 96744

Windward Community College Sustainability

We work at Windward Community College every other Friday

Upcoming Workdays:

Additional weekday events listed on our calendar

Download the Plant ID Packet for this project here.
File Size:	4155 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

WCC Rain Garden PDF
File Size:	1827 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Similar HOK Projects:

Popoi'a Street Retrofit
Heʻeia State Park Rain Garden, video
Hawai'i Pacific University Nursing Annex Rain Garden, video
Residential Rain Gardens
Wahikuli Beach Park, Maui

Contact us for more information on Rain Gardens and how you can install one on your property. You can download the Hawai'i State Rain Garden Manual here.