• Reddit
• Digg
• Facebook
• MySpace
• del.icio.us
• StumbleUpon
• Technorati
• Furl
• Newsvine
• Google Bookmarks

You may also be interested in...

Photo: City of Gresham DES

When stormwater projects have multiple purposes and succeed in fulfilling them, then they are definitely giving the communities and citizens they serve more for their money. One such project is in Kent, OH.

The Middle Cuyahoga River made Ohio’s 303(d) list of impaired waters in 2000. The reason for its inclusion came about because of the presence of the historic Kent Dam.

Ironically it was the same river, downstream near Cleveland, that became a national symbol of water pollution. When an oil slick on the river caught on fire in the early 1970s, the scene played repeatedly on national television. That river fire sparked passage of the Clean Water Act of 1972.

The Kent Dam interfered with fish migration and caused the flow of the Middle Cuyahoga to slow and finally stagnate. Dissolved oxygen levels fell well below water-quality standards. The river no longer qualified as a warm-water habitat for indigenous fish species.

Tearing down and removing the dam so that the river could flow freely would have been the simplest solution. The obvious solution, however, frequently has hidden drawbacks, and that proved so in this case.

Photo: City of Kent Trough walls under construction at Heritage Park

Photo: City of Kent (Top)The Kent Dam site now features a waterfall, fed by the newly constructed trough (below)

Photo: City of Kent

Talk of removing the dam—or even of modifying the dam—even for such a valid reason as complying with state and federal clean water laws, drew strenuous protests from many citizens of Kent. After all, their dam was no ordinary dam.

The Kent Dam was built in 1836 along with the Pennsylvania and Ohio (P & O) Canal. It was part of the industrialization of the river, using water power to operate the various mills that were built in the area.

Made of hand-cut sandstone blocks, the Kent Dam stands 14 feet high and curves in a graceful arch of 125 feet. It is the only known stone arch dam with a similarly constructed sandstone canal lock attached to one side. As the second-oldest arched dam in the United States, it qualified for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

The original dam and canal lock were severely damaged in a flood in 1913. The dam was rebuilt in 1925 and is in relatively good condition. Parts of the canal lock remain underwater.

Aside from the strong connection to the city’s early years and industrial success, the Kent Dam with its waterfall was one of the most recognizable sights of Kent. Taking public and private photographs with this background had been a local custom for generations.

A walking path had been built near the dam and waterfall in the 1970s. This path had given more residents opportunities to value the area as it was, and thus made them more resistant to possible changes.

Instead of removing the dam, another solution was proposed: adding additional infrastructure at the city’s water reclamation facility. But that would have been very expensive for taxpayers, with costs estimated at $3,400,000 to $4,700,000, and it would have yielded only partial improvement in the quality of the water.

Doing nothing wasn’t an option, either. The Ohio EPA notified Kent officials that if they ignored the problem, they would face more stringent permit limits at the city’s water reclamation
facility.

Divergent opinions about the situation soon became apparent. The history-minded residents of Kent were outraged at the idea of destroying such a prominent local landmark, an institution so interwoven with the history of the town and its people.

Environmentalists, appalled at the deterioration of natural habitat and the poor quality of water, advocated complete removal of the Kent Dam and others along the Middle Cuyahoga River as soon as possible. Other residents didn’t care one way or another about the outcome, but were concerned that their taxes not be raised.

Local officials soon realized that polarizing views made it impossible to find an easy solution, and the decision could have long-term negative consequences on future projects. The only action that would be both effective and acceptable was to have people with different views of the issue work together to find a solution that was acceptable to all and addressed the concerns on all sides.

The Kent Dam Advisory Committee formed with 19 members from various local groups, including the Kent Environmental Council and the Kent Historical Society. The committee’s task was to educate its members on all aspects of the project and to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each possible solution from the standpoint of various local advocacies.

To lessen contention and ensure that all viewpoints were expressed, the city used a trained meeting facilitator from Camp Dresser & McKee, the consulting firm the city of Kent had hired for the entire process, for each of the nine committee meetings.

“This up-front approach—getting everyone in the same room at the same time at the onset of the project—was absolutely critical to the timely success of the project,” says Robert Brown, manager of Kent’s water reclamation facility.

Photo: St. Johns River Water District The park stores runoff before recharging the water to the aquifer (above and below).

Photo: St. Johns River Water District

Photo: St. Johns River Water District Sebastian Stormwater Park

Following guidelines of the Clean Water Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, the committee reached agreement on a project that spoke to both the historical and environmental concerns of Kent’s citizens.

Work on the project began in 2001. The finished project was dedicated in May 2005. The historic Kent Dam was saved. To get the river flowing again, to prevent stagnation and pollution, its channel was rerouted through remnants of the old canal lock, bypassing the dam on its east side. The old stones were repositioned to make a new riverbed lining.

The dam’s old pool was eliminated. The sluice gates, part of the old canal, were opened to drain the pool. The exposed land and backfill formed the new Heritage Park, which has signs to educate visitors on the historical significance of the dam and environmental benefits of the project. Pumps fill a trough with water, which flows over the dam into the original pool, forming an attractive new waterfall.

As carried out, the Kent Dam project wasn’t the easiest solution, but it was the most creative. A major component of Kent’s history and culture was saved, and the city was able to attain total daily maximum load water standards.

Total cost of the project was more than $5 million. Some funds were used to restore the streambank above the dam, contributing to improved water quality. The several million dollars not spend on wastewater treatment upgrades (which would have eventually required more funds) allowed the city to use the money for other water-quality and stormwater projects as needed.

The project’s success has brought increasing attention to improving other sections of the Middle Cuyahoga River (MCR). According to Maia Peck, MCR watershed coordinator, alteration of the Kent Dam and removal of the Munroe Falls Dam “transformed stagnant pools to freely flowing river, with stunning results.”

Brown agrees. “The big payoff came with the rapid return of water quality in the river. While the Ohio EPA was very positive that the dam modification would improve water quality, even they were amazed at the rapid return of the appropriate aquatic life.”

Peck is working with citizens and groups in various Northeast Ohio communities to develop a regional approach to cleaning up the river and dealing with erosion caused by too much stormwater flowing from impervious surfaces into streams, such as Walnut Creek in Stow, OH. A major goal is to develop a state-endorsed Watershed Action Plan by December 2010.

After the project was finished and the river met EPA quality standards, Brown says, the city “embarked on a path to inform the public about stormwater pollution issues.” Presentation to local civic groups “seemed to bring more focus on the river, and local interest in river cleanup projects has skyrocketed.”

Sebastian Stormwater Park
Another interesting stormwater project that offers more than runoff control is the city of Sebastian, FL’s Stormwater Park, which is within the St. Johns River Water Management District.

The Sebastian River watershed is a tributary of the Indian River Lagoon (IRL). The lagoon and its tributaries, an estuary of national significance, are included in the National Estuary Program. It is also designated as a state priority water body under the Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program.

The Sebastian Stormwater Park project decreased freshwater inflow into the Sebastian River and helped restore optimal salinity levels in the estuary, critical for shellfish. The IRL waters adjacent to the Sebastian River (and much of the IRL) are designated as Class II (shellfish harvesting) waters, and the area was among the most productive shellfish waters on Florida’s east coast.

Nonpoint-source pollution in stormwater runoff has caused undesirable fluctuations in salinity and increased loading of total suspended matter, nutrients, and bacteria to the Sebastian River. Commercial development has been minor, but agricultural use of lands to the west, with subsequent runoff of nutrients and fertilizers, is major.

Photo: City of Gresham DES Local schools use Gresham-developed materials for biology and ecology projects.

Photo: City of Gresham DES Boeing Corporation donated undeveloped land for the treatment facility.

Photo: City of Gresham DES Red-legged frog

Throughout the IRL region, stormwater runoff has been linked to increases in fecal coliform bacteria levels. Under Florida and US laws, shellfish harvesting is suspended following storm events.

Some researchers say that nonpoint-source pollution has caused the reduction of habitat within the IRL. Total seagrass bed acreage is down, and the beds are fragmented.

Sebastian’s existing stormwater drainage system was inadequate both for flood control and for mitigating the negative impacts of runoff on the Sebastian River and the Indian River Lagoon. Most of the runoff is conveyed through a system of more than 700 miles of canals, ditches, and swales to the Sebastian River and ultimately to the IRL. Installed in the late 1950s, this system could provide neither adequate storage nor treatment of the amount of runoff produced as the city’s impervious surface area has grown along with its population.

Ed Garland, communications specialist with the St. Johns River Water Management District, says that Sebastian officials “initially approached the district about developing some kind of stormwater retrofit project that would clean up the stormwater in Collier Creek. The District agreed with the concept.”

Starting in 2001, the St. Johns River Water Management District built the Sebastian Stormwater Park. The city is responsible for managing it. Located in the midst of Sebastian, the 166-acre park adjoins the Collier Canal/Elkcam waterway, which is a major canal system.

The drainage area serviced by this retrofit project includes more than 1,400 acres of medium-density residential development that drains via the canal system into the South Prong of the Sebastian River. The project was designed to be compatible with stormwater systems both upstream and downstream.

The stormwater park was constructed as a series of interconnected best management practices (BMPs)—a treatment train—to remove pollutants and reduce the volume of freshwater discharges to the estuary. Components include two wet detention ponds, one dry detention area, and a large (21-acre) wetland impoundment storage/treatment area.

Because the land is much higher than the adjacent canal water level, water from the canal is pumped up into the park. The park stores about 1 inch of runoff from the drainage basin, provides greater than 21 days of residence time before recharging water to the aquifer, and has the capacity to detain runoff equal to the mean annual storm event.

That much management of stormwater is efficient; what puts the project in the “and more” category is what else it offers to residents of Sebastian. Described as a “dense oasis,” this stormwater park allows people to be in a place of natural beauty within minutes of leaving their suburban and urban homes.

Noting the high use of the park for walking and hiking, Sebastian’s city manager, Al Minner, says that the best thing about the facility is that it “gets multiple attractive uses by having an area that is great for passive recreational uses while also treating stormwater.”

Existing live oak hammock areas and wetlands (features Garland characterizes as “an intrinsic part of Florida’s natural landscape”) were preserved for passive recreation. Garland says that St. Johns River Water Management District project manager Ralph Brown and his team took special care in ensuring habitats could be preserved whenever possible.

Two miles of hiking trails can be used for increasing fitness or decreasing stress. Benches and picnic areas offer relaxation with family and friends.

Sebastian Stormwater Park is a birdwatcher’s delight. Egrets, herons, and other waterfowl and many species of migratory birds use the wetlands for nesting and foraging. Florida’s scrub jays are especially common.

Visitors can see many species of plants native to this area of Florida. Before the ribbon-cutting ceremony was held, in December 2006, local gardeners and other volunteers helped water management district employees install plants, shrubs, and grasses to stabilize the park’s grass berms.

Learning while enjoying oneself and while seeing concepts in the real world is best, so the stormwater park has educational signs at various points. Visitors can read about the importance of preserving wetlands and how stormwater contributes to pollution.

The $2.5 million Sebastian Stormwater Park was funded by EPA 319 funds, the St. Johns River Water Management District, and the city. The results so far have been impressive. The project has met its goals of improving water quality, providing flood protection, and providing a protective habitat for wildlife, all on land that was destined for residential development.

 Freshwater inflows have decreased enough to reach optimal salinity for clams and oysters to propagate. Estimated pollutant loadings removed are total nitrogen, 80%; total phosphorus, 56%; and total suspended solids, 70%.

Columbia Slough
The Columbia Slough Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility is another impressive project that is designed to improve water quality on a regional basis. It serves the Columbia Slough, an 18-mile channel that parallels the Columbia River. Through remnants of lakes, wetlands, and channels, it connects with waters that nurture salmon and delight canoeists.

The Columbia Slough watershed, which covers roughly 40,000 acres of land, used to be part of the Columbia River’s floodplain. Beginning in the 1920s, levees were built to protect homes, farms, and businesses from season flooding. These levees and pumps that sent stormwater into the Willamette and Columbia Rivers spurred industrial development in the area.

Runoff comes to the facility from the heart of large industrial and commercial sections of Gresham, OR, which had a population of 100,000 in 2008, and from north and northeast Portland, OR. This drainage area covers 965 urban industrial acres.

Stormwater carrying pollutants had so degraded water quality through the watershed that only a regional approach would make much improvement. The Columbia Slough had an extensive list of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), and the state of Oregon told Gresham and regional leaders that things had to improve.

The Columbia Slough Watershed Council worked with the Boeing Corporation and the city of Gresham’s Watershed Management Division on the project. Three goals were set for the project: stormwater treatment, hazardous spill containment, and education.

“The environmental community has completely embraced this facility,” says Steve Fancher, watershed division manager for Gresham’s Department of Environmental Services. “The Columbia Slough Watershed Council awarded Boeing Corporation an achievement award in 2007 for its land donation.”

Boeing, a major local employer, donated about 14 acres for the project, less than one mile from I-84. The flat land was graded to create wetland terraces and waterfalls. The project required a custom design, with features from both water-quality swale and water-quality pond work. An existing creek needed bank stabilization.

At one point, the contractor had to divert the creek temporarily while construction was ongoing. This was done successfully, with no damage to the Columbia Slough. Another concern was possible damage to riparian areas, but they were fenced off to protect them from any negative impact of construction.

The invasive blackberry plants that covered the ground were removed and replaced with more than 10,000 trees and plants, including rushes, sedges, cottonwood and dogwood trees, and other native plant species.

School children and other visitors can hear at least 26 different kinds of songbirds. They may spot hawks, frogs, rabbits, coyotes, and other wild creatures that are thriving in the new habitat.

The city of Gresham worked with a local teacher to develop educational materials so that schools can use the site for educational outreach for biology and ecology projects. A recreational trail has stops and interpretive panels at educational points of interest.

Stormwater runoff reaches the treatment facility via creek and pipe. Up to 9 million gallons can be held to filter through various levels of vegetation in the constructed wetlands: emergent wetland vegetation, ash forest, and upland riparian forest. Heavy metals and other industrial pollutants are removed and treated water discharges into the Columbia Slough.

The project cost $2.9 million, which was paid by stormwater utility fees. It was finished in October 2008 and dedicated in August 2009. Brown and Caldwell served as project consultant. The contractor was Tapani Underground.

Considering the volume of heavily polluted stormwater the facility can handle, the plant and animal diversity of the habitat, and the beauty of the site, the project will serve as a model for future regional stormwater projects.

Columbia Slough Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility was named Stormwater Project of the Year for 2008 by the Oregon chapter of the American Public Works Association.

Asked to name the best thing about the project, Fancher says, “For me it still goes back to the ‘alignment of the stars’ needed for this project to happen—undeveloped land in the exact spot needed for this large natural regional treatment facility, the donation of this land to the city of Gresham by the Boeing Corporation, the right conditions at the site to support natural wetland functions. It’s one in a million.”

Noting the cooperation among entities involved that is needed for such a project to succeed, Gresham Mayor Shane T. Bemis says, “The experience working together to improve the community’s environmental impact on the slough has been inspiring from start to finish.”

Fancher says he was surprised how quickly the project was valued by the community. One example: “A group of folks who work for Boeing Corporation across the street have adopted the walking/maintenance trail that surrounds the facility, removing litter and coyote and waterfowl droppings on a regular basis.”

Another surprise was the diverse wildlife that appeared within this first year after the project was completed. “Native red-legged frogs, listed as sensitive by the state due to their declining numbers, also took up immediate residence,” notes Fancher.

Torrey Lindbo, water-quality specialist for Gresham’s Department of Environmental Services, says that current monitoring of the facility is for flow and temperature. Then the water-quality specialists will determine “how to best capture sampling events where storms with a 24- to 72-hour dry period following the previous storm can be targeted to capture the entire event mean concentration for a suite of pollutants.”

Considering the variation in concentration of pollutants by time within the storm event—some first flush, some later—they’ll use automated samplers to collect flow-weighted composite samples that represent spaced intervals based on flow throughout the storm event.

 Lindbo explains that the two inflows and the outflow will be sampled. “Effectiveness will be evaluated based on event mean concentration differences between the inflows and the outflow,” she says.

Three cities: Kent, Sebastian, Gresham; three innovative projects: Kent Dam alteration, Sebastian Stormwater Park, Columbia Slough Regional Stormwater Treatment Facility. Each of these stormwater and water-quality projects is unique to the area it serves, but all three share certain important characteristics.

Each project has achieved several goals, providing the taxpayers more for their money than clean water and control of runoff. Each project not only fits into, but also enhances, a regional or watershed approach to dealing with stormwater.