The Poplar Wetland Basin

On my bike ride this morning, I stopped by the Poplar Wetland Basin. This little bit of land, about the size of two city blocks, is a neatly engineered bit of water routing. Some of the rain runoff from the city streets is channelled into this area instead of dumping directly into Lake Superior. The marshland serves as a giant filter. As the water slows here, cattails and other plants break down some of the salt and petroleum pollution and a lot of particulates sink to the bottom of the ponds. Before the city was here, much of the land was marsh and the Poplar Wetland Basin is a restoration of some of that original marshland. Understanding how the world worked before we decided to pave the planet can, if we're smart, show us how to lessen our impacts on the place and maybe undo or at least lessen some of the damage we've done.

One little wetland isn't the whole solution, of course, but it is a good example of local stewardship in action. The blackbirds, ducks, and geese seem to happy to call this bit of wetland home.