The village of West Salem will be considering constructing a rain garden at the library as a means to control problems with stormwater runoff.

At its meeting on July 23, the West Salem Library Committee agreed to look into constructing a rain garden on the west side of the Hazel Brown Leicht Memorial Library. Rain gardens, which utilize specific water-absorbing plants, have been becoming a popular way to control water runoff in urban areas because they’re not only successful but attractive and low-maintenance as well.

According to library committee chair Terry Hanson, the west side of the library typically becomes saturated with water after rainfalls and does remain there for a period. A rain garden would be a way to alleviate the problem.

“Every time you get rain, you get water there,” said Hanson, who also sits on the village board. “This is a way to get rid of the water.”

Hanson said he doesn’t know how large a rain garden would be needed for the library site or how much it would cost, but he said the garden could also be used to control runoff from Garland Street.

“This would entail a few dollars, but I haven’t gone too far with this,” Hanson said. “I just wanted to see if there was interest in this.”

Library committee member and board member Helen Harold said she thought the idea would be worth pursuing.

“I think it’s something to look into,” she said.

Village Administrator Teresa Schnitzler said efforts to control stormwater runoff like rain gardens will be beneficial as state and federal regulations to reduce runoff are imminent for the village. Water runoff caused by rain or snowmelt is seen as harmful because it carries pollutants — such as pesticides, fertilizers, soil and litter — into a municipality’s stormwater system and can contaminate groundwater and nearby lakes and rivers.

The state and federal regulations, which are based on population density, will require property owners to manage their own water runoff.

Schnitzler said the village has already been looking at ways to control water runoff and have even applied for grant money to address it.

“We know it’s coming,” Schnitzler said. “So we’ve already been looking at ways to control it.”