On May 21, 2013, Queens College received a grant from the Department of Environmental Protection to begin planning for another rain garden installation on campus. The rain garden will encompass the 18,000 square foot Dining Hall Plaza, which is between the Dining Hall and the I Building. It will include a combination of rain gardens and permeable pavers. According to the DEP, a rain garden is a man-made bio-filter, which contributes greatly to the hydrological cycle. “The rain garden collects and stores excess rain water from roofs of buildings, driveways or parking lots — thus preventing this run-off from polluting streams, causing flooding and erosion of stream banks. The rain…