NOT a ditch...

...a Master's Thesis instead.

One of our graduate students is researching how plants reduce turbidity (presence of sediment particles in water, visible to the eye) and therefore clean the stormwater.

The square thing you see is a cover of a massive hole that lets the stormwater into the sewer pipes. The idea is to have the water pass through this constructed wetland to clean it. This set-up will also slow the water down a bit, and hopefully some of it will get absorbed by the plants.

The project is located between the Landscape Architecture department and one of the main roads to the Mississippi State University's campus, so it gets a lot of visibility. Hopefully others will follow!

You may be wondering why not just let the entire area become THIS. That's because people (some people; other people) believe that green lawns sing pride and respect, but wild-looking grasses scream untidiness and loose morals :-)

It looks like an awesome Mohawk to me...