THE PATH
OF WATER
City of Auburn Wastewater Treatment plant
“The distinction between a place where nature was cared for and the surrounding untended wilderness came to be called landscape: a formal artefact of nature crafted for both utilitarian and symbolic purposes�.
Christophe Girot. (2016). The Course of Landscape Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc.
Natalia Almonacid December 11th/ 2017 Master of Landscape Architecture
THE PATH
OF WATER
City of Auburn Wastewater Treatment plant
Alabama is a water rich state where the 10% of the United States water resources are originated. There are more than 13.200 miles of rivers and streams whose length is enough to circle the Earth five times. Therefore, Alabama is the number one state in freshwater fish biodiversity. However, 19% of the freshwater fish species are at risk due to pollution and destruction of habitat. Auburn is the largest city in eastern Alabama, its metropolitan area has a population of 63.118 (2016), that is settled in a 59.85 square miles surface, which 6% is made of water. At that time, are people aware of the importance of its territory, the environment and the natural resources that shape it? How much do Auburn’s citizens acknowledge the water bodies of its territory, the watersheds that dispense them, and the importance to their lives? Are Auburn´s water bodies present in the citizen’s daily lives? In order to think about the city of Auburn, it is necessary to understand its hydrologic context, its topography, its ecological conditions and the way in which people relates to them. Regarding the mentioned situation, there is the opportunity to make water accessible to people by creating a loop of water to experience the hydrological system and hydraulic system, make it visible and recognizable, and integrate culture and ecology by giving meaning to the cycle of water from an urban scale. On the other hand, it is an opportunity to create public spaces for people’s enjoyment related to the natural resources and both ecological and cultural significant. Also, to connect important engineered places as the Water Treatment Plant and The Auburn Water Works Board, to environmental preservation areas such as the Chewacla State Park, The Lake Wilmore Park, and the Chewacla Creek, creating an educational circuit. This connection becomes effective by a trail system for pedestrians and bikes, greenspaces, and greenways, to follow the path of the cycle of water making it visible and enjoyable. Lastly, to provide access to water, create memory, change the way that people think about their city, to respect nature and at the same time show meaning of culture, and finally to recognize it in order to take care of it. Being one of the engineered places that are connected by the loop of water, the Water Treatment Plant is a place where different types of water streams come together through a pipe: the treated water, the storm water drainage, the stream and the Parkerson’s Mill Creek. However, within the bounds of the facility there is a gap that prevents the visual and spatial connection between the different water streams and the hydrological system, making it unreachable and unknowable for people, and preventing its understanding as a closed in-motion cycle.
Also, somewhere within the gap, between the streams’ mouth and the Parkerson’s Mill Creek, there is space in between: the result of different accidental products of surrounding human forces that led to a Wet Forest whose topography’s characteristics hint that, originally, it is a flood zone. According to the above, the objective of this project is to modify the gap topography to shift the trajectory and spatiality of water and transform the ecosystem, turning the wet forest into a wetland. To reclaim the wetland, designing a flood zone that can capture the different water streams, creating a new ecosystem that leads to different conditions, preserving the existing vegetation and inducing to new ecological processes caused by the increase of humidity. In such way, the gap is closed by modifying the terrain’s dynamic, the ecological processes and the path of water, making it visible and walkable to people through the connection of the aeration, the wet forest, the spillway and the Parkerson’s Mill Creek.
FINDING FORM THROUGH ITERATION
HYDROLOGIC CONTEXT 10% of the freshwater
resources in the USA flow through or originate in Alabama
Alabama is the
Number 1 State in freshwater fish biodiversity.
ALABAMA
Lee County
% OF N OR T H AM ER I C AN SPEC I ES T H AT AR E N AT I VE TO A L A B A M A
22%
CRAYFISH
57%
FRESHWATER TURTLES
22%
FISHES
61%
FRESHWATER MUSSELS
28%
FRESHWATER SNAILS
19% RISK More than 132,000 miles of rivers ands treams in Alabama, enough to circle the earth 5 times.
Of freshwater fish species in Alabama are in danger due to pollution and habitat’s destruction.
HYDROLOGIC AND HYDRAULIC CONTEXT
The City of Auburn is located entirely in the Tallapoosa River Basin.
Tallapoosa River Basin
The City of Auburn has more than 300 detention ponds.
4,675 Square Miles, 85% is in Alabama and 15% in Georgia. 258 mile long river
Opelika
GEORGIA
Auburn
ALABAMA
AU B U R N´ S TR EATED WATER
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Releases
-1.5 billion gallons capacity.
Auburn Water Works Board
6,000,000 gallons of cleared water per day
Lee County More than 3.500 lakes and ponds.
More than 3.500 Dams (more than 600 are located in the city of Auburn.
AUB UR N ´S D R I N KI N G WAT ER D EM AN D
Total Annual Demand 2.83 Billion Gallons
10-15% From AWWB Well #3 20-30% From Opelika Utilities
Average Daily City-Wide Demand 7,739,282 Gallons Peak Daily City-Wide Demand 12,079,000 Gallons Approx. Annual Demand Per Capita 47,209 Gallons
65-75% From Lake Ogletree
THE WATER LOOP
AUBURN
D r i nk i ng Water Tr eatment P lant
ns
Mil
lC
Par
ker
so
Lake Wilmore Park k ree
Lake Ogletree
Chewacla Creek State Park
C
W a te r T r e a tme n t Pl a n t
w he
ac
la C
reek
Temporary Quarry
A ubur n Water Wor k s Boar d
“Rapid urban growth has pushed landscape towards the fringes of society. There is an absence of purpose between a town and its immediate surroundings. A more meaningful interaction between dwelling and landscape requires a symbolic act – one which, unfortunately, seldom occurs”. Christophe Girot. (2016). The Course of Landscape Architecture. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc.
Sa
GENER A L P L A N T
C i t y o f A u b u r n Wa s t e w a t e r Tr e a t m e n t P l a n t
nd
Hi
ll R oad
Headworks Parkers
Maintanance sheds
on
s
M
ill
Cre
ek
Anaerobic and Aerobic Basins Main Office
Sludge Lagoon
Spillway
Clarifier
UV Desinfection
Reaeration
Wet forest Belt Press
Biosolids
Rocks and wild vegetation
Digesters
Stormwater Drainage Stream
THE GAP
REAERATION
THE SPILLWAY AND PARKERSON’S MILL CREEK
ROCKS AND WILD VEGETATION
THE WETFOREST
FORM AND TRAJECTORY
A T H E PAT H O F WAT E R
1. Stormwater drainage 2. Ephemeral stream 3. Cleared water
B T H E WE T F O R E S T
Type of ecosystem characterized by having 30 m height treesover a well developed understorey of trees, shrubs or tree-ferns that prevent much light reaching the forest floor.
C T H E GA P
Between the hydrological and the hydraulic system, which prevents the understanding and visualization of the cycle of waterin the site scale.
STRATEGIES
A S H IF T
The trajectory and spatiality of water to transform the ecosystem, turning the wet forest into a wetland.
B R ECL A IM
The wetland, designing a flood zone that can capture the different water streams, transforming the ecosystem, leading to different conditions, preserving the existing vegetation and inducing to new ecological processes caused by the increase of humidity.
C CLO S E
The gap between the cleared water and the Parkerson’s Mill Creek, making it visible by taking the water to the surface and creating paths to walk through it.
Sa
GENERA L PL A NT
C i t y o f A u b u r n Wa s t e w a t e r Tr e a t m e n t P l a n t
nd
Hi
ll R oad
Headworks Parkers
Maintanance sheds
on
s
M
ill
Cre
ek
Anaerobic and Aerobic Basins Main Office
Sludge Lagoon
Spillway
Clarifier
UV Desinfection
Reaeration
Wet forest Belt Press
Biosolids
Rocks and wild vegetation
Digesters
Stormwater Drainage Stream
GENERAL PLAN
Water Treatment Plant releases 6 MGD 600.000 gallons capacity
1/10 of the cleared water is taken to the pool
SCALE 10 ft
100 ft
Contemporary system’s thinking increasingly focuses on complex ecological networks, but misses an essential point: the possibility of a reconciliation between society and the cultural potential of nature. Christophe Girot