Skeptical of the local swale project, 6 months later I get it

My neighbor got permission to dig a swale along the block's shared drainage ditch last spring. I figured it was just a fad, some permaculture stuff that would turn into a mosquito pit or a muddy mess. Then we had that 4 inch downpour in July and my basement stayed dry for the first time in 8 years. I went out and looked at the trench, all those native sedges and rushes soaking up the runoff, and it clicked. The water had a place to go instead of pooling against my foundation. I even walked the whole line with him and he showed me how the overflow works during a big storm. Now I'm thinking of adding a smaller rain garden near my downspout, but I'm not sure what plants handle clay soil around here. Has anyone else seen a swale actually fix a recurring flooding problem, or did mine just get lucky?

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