Rain seems like it would be good for the plants, right? Well, this isn't necessarily true. For instance at the top side of franklin farm lies a housing development. When the houses were being constructed, the contractors never took into account where the rainwater from the roofs of the houses and the street would go. Because of this, the rainwater would fall off the house's, wash off the roads, and collect in the upper field of the farm. It would find its way through the ravines of the land where it would eventually come to a flat enough area, lying stagnant in the fields. So much rainwater piled up in the fields that it actually changed the makeup of the land. Now once sweet soil has become acidic. This has made it so that much of the land has now adopted the properties of a swamp. The rainwater also transports sand from the streets into the farms fields which creates a problem and clogs many of the drainage systems. In order to mitigate this recurring problem, a drainage stream was built to stop the water from going into the fields. During my internship I assisted my mentor, Frank, in maintaining and clearing these ditches so they could continue to hold and divert  the rainwater. Through frank's expertise and experience volunteering with the Providence Watershed, I was able to acquire knowledge about the negative effects of water run off and how to combat it effectively.