I'm not sure this would be completely useful in my situation. We are downhill from a very large house (10,000 sq. ft.),with a huge concrete parking/driveway. My entire yard is a low spot. As little as a half inch rain causes two major rivers with water flowing on down to the street. What disturbs me is the waste of rainwater and the soil erosion. I suppose there is also a certain amount of contaminate flowing into a natural waterway on downhill further. Perhaps what is needed is something more like a cistern. I'm thinking a 6 inch deep pit wouldn't be enough and would only make a little shelf for a waterfall. It seems there is one small spot where water stands for several days and I think a rain garden might work there. I have a little experience with native plants and grasses and am a Master Gardener. Will check the files but I doubt there is any info in this state.
Thank you for your response. I was sort of fishing to see if anyone else had experience with a Rain Garden or if there is another forum. Apparently not. But, you were kind to respond.

Hi. We have problems in Western Australia because of our dry climate, seasonal rain and extremely sandy soil which causes run-off and a lack of absorption of water by the soil. To counteract this, we need to use water crystals or some type of granule like 'Wettasoil' that allows the water to soak into that substance instead of running off down the road or away from the soil. It is a huge problem here. You must try to get as much organic matter into your soil as possible and this will help retain the rain water. Growing plants will also help to retain the water.

Thanks to this forum for letting me vent. During the past few days I have been reading everything I can find about this problem and thinking and thinking and Aha! - I finally realized that the solution is indeed the soil. I need to counteract my heavy clay, which, like your sand, Wildflower7, is causing the rapid runoff. Not sure what Wettasoil is - would it be a type of Gypsum? Plan is to form some small terraces to slow the water some and then fill with gravel at bottom and compost top with some native plant material.
Thanks to you both.

Below is a link to my states Department of Natural Resources guide to building rain gardens. There is lots of information on this site. More for you to read and see if you can adapt it to your conditions.

Tom

Here is a link that might be useful: Rain Gardens

Hi rain garden enthusiasts. I am going to invite my Master Rain Gardener class to post in the Great Lakes Gardening forum here. Please come and help out newbie rain gardeners! I'd love your support and help from experienced gardeners. Sometimes the questions are general gardening, like how to remove sod, or more technical rain garden-specific. Your comments are welcome!

You could try eg 12" raised beds, they would drain from the sides and give you a fighing chance at normal conditions. You could put a pond in. Dig in dry summer and line it. Japanese and Siberian Iris would likely do well. And don't plant horsetail!

Pictures of your situation would help.

Maybe you can pick up a few ideas from my situation that could work in yours.

I get runoff from my neighbor above me on a ridge. He has a large house,
barn, loafing shed for his cows, a large garage, and an extensive
concrete driveway. Five of his ten acres drain to my 10 acres, So I get a
lot of water from him in our wet Northwest winters with dry summers.

I have several areas that are runoff collection areas in the winter, yet are dry in the summer. The upper area where the water comes in is bog conditions. These two pictures of the largest rain collection area I have were taken last Fall (Oct. 19, 2016) when our Winter rains had just begun and water was starting to accumulate. The dam I built is at the far end in the first picture and I'm standing on it looking back in the second. I made the bottom smooth when I dug it out with a bulldozer and then just kept mowing the weeds until nothing but a native grass and Buttercup could handle it. Sometimes I use a string trimmer. This pond is usually full from November to June.

Here's the other one on 10-27-2016. This one eventually runs into the larger one and was almost full when the picture was taken.

I've been gardening here since 1979. Yeah, I'm an old man. ;-)

Mike