The path of water

Page 1

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



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