LA 4754 Stormwater Explorations

SUSTAINABLE STORMWATER EXPLORATIONS Targeting Redevelopment Opportunities Using Low Impact Development Strategies in the Memphis Metropolitan Area.

LA 4754 Regional Design Studio Mississippi State University Professor: Peter Summerlin Fall, 2014

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SUSTAINABLE STORMWATER EXPLORATIONS part00 . studio overview

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part01 . typology study

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part02 . contaminant study

19

part03 . regional mapping

27

part04 . gis modeling

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part05 . lid toolkit

57

part06 . harrison creek pilot projects

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PETER SUMMERLIN, ASLA, LEED AP

department of landscape architecture mississippi state university o 662.325.2668 | m 601.260.5200 www.lalc.msstate.edu 3

Traditional stormwater management infrastructure exists throughout our cities with the primary purpose of flood prevention through quality management. Can more localized stormwater management relieve the existing pressure on the systems and restore lost waterways?

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STUDIO DILEMMA:

The city of Memphis stands along the bluffs of the Mississippi River with the entirety of the metropolitan area extending across three states. And while the Mississippi River itself is the region’s most visible landmark for water, the immediate watersheds that drain to the river play the most vital role in the cities engagement with its water resources. For centuries, Memphis has had an intrinsic connection with water and moving forward, water resources will continue to define the character, habits, and economy of the city of Memphis and surrounding communities.

As influential as these resources are, they are not invincible. Waterways can become impaired. Streams have become buried in pipes and culvert systems. Pollutants are conveyed unfiltered to major water bodies. Debris accumulates. Sediment increases. Water temperatures rise. Their tangible impacts can be seen in localized flash flooding.

The more discrete, long term impacts are more troublesome. Depleted aquifers and pollution that threaten wildlife populations result in environmental and economic concerns over food and water. Higher stormwater temperatures degrade streams. Increased stormwater velocity leads to erosion and sedimentation of streams. The addition of contaminants and removal of a natural filtration process pollutes waterways.

And while these consequences were not intended, they nonetheless exist and jeopardize the regions valuable resources. The same intrinsic connection to water that builds cities like Memphis into bustling economies can threaten them over time if not carefully considered. The natural hydrologic processes that infiltrate, clean and store runoff in once wild landscapes are disrupted across both the urban and suburban landscape. The suburban sprawl of the late twentieth century has only accelerated the degradation of the water resources, affecting both water quality and quantity.

STUDIO THESIS:

This conflict between regional growth and its inherent threat to the water resources leads us to consider new approaches to land development.

The studio will begin by assessing the current state of land use typologies in the region. This will involve an examination of the physical infrastructure and environmental systems, while also investigating the cultural factors relevant to constructing the built environment. Based on this inventory, the studio will investigate the impact of the current infrastructure on the watershed. It will assess the design logistics and discuss both positive and negative impacts.

Concurrently, the studio will introduce a series of Low Impact Development (LID) strategies for site development. Each approach will be studied for its performative and aesthetic value. As important, the techniques, materials, and methodologies for construction will also be studied. Strategies to promote and enforce these ideas will also be discussed. Ultimately, this LID toolkit will operate as a template for the region with appropriate solutions that address economic, environmental, and cultural demands.

The final project of the studio will be an application of the LID toolkit.

Specific sites in the region will operate as case studies for a new approach to site design. Certain instances will examine new construction while others will address retrofitting existing development. In either application, the impact on stormwater will be assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively. These efforts throughout the studio (from the initial analysis, through programming and design applications) will stress the importance of a vascular network of water throughout urban, suburban, and wilderness as a means for healthy environmental, economic, and cultural systems. The product of the studio seeks to contribute to the advancement of watershed planning for the Memphis Metropolitan reThis discussion is not to ignore the fact that cities are growing. In fact, gion. they are growing faster than suburbs for the first time in decades. But does this increased urbanization put even more pressure on the already strained waterways in the region? Or is it possible to leverage this urbanization to relieve, or potentially resolve many of the water quality and water quantity issues in the Memphis Metropolitan Area?

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PART01 . TYPOLOGY STUDY This part of the study is an examination of the landscape systems and development patterns of the Memphis metropolitan area, with a focus on their role in municipal stormwater management. It’s impossible to study the entirety of a region with a precision typical for site design.

With this in mind, we have approached the site inventory and analysis in a manner that identifies the character of the region by studying site development archetypes.

As a group, this studio searched the study region to identify two 2030 acre examples that represent the typical pattern of a typology. The total acreage and the acreage of pervious, impervious (buildings and site), and canopy were documented within that particular area. These components were documented as percentages of site development and mapped using vector data. Written notations and icons discuss the intricacies of the development patterns and their implications on stormwater management.

Landscape Typologies: Agriculture, Low Density Residential, Suburban Single Family Res., Suburban Multi-Family Res., Office Park, Campus, Industry, Utility, Downtown Core, Downtown Fringe, Large Retail, Small Retail, Open Space Managed, Open Space Unmanaged *Only a sample of the Typology Studies are included in this document.

I composite spreadsheet can be found on page 17.

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LARGE SCALE COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Pervious // Canopy

KENNY JONES

LAND USE

PERCENTAGE

15.9%

VEGETATION

27.9%

BUILDING SPACE

Pervious // Vegetation

56.2%

IMPERVIOUS SITE

Concrete Swale

Impervious // Buildings

Roof Drain

Curb Inlet

stormwater Pipe

Surface Grate

Curb & Gutter

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY

Impervious // Site

SITE AERIA L

200

8

400

N

SMALL SCALE COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Pervious // Canopy

KENNY JONES

LAND USE

PERCENTAGE

27%%

BUILDING SPACE

36.2%

Pervious // Vegetation

VEGETATION

36.8%

IMPERVIOUS SITE

Impervious // Buildings

Roof Drain

Curb Inlet

Manicure Lawn

Surface Grate

Curb & Gutter

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY

Impervious // Site

SITE AERIA L

100

200

N

9

JOHNSON PARK

LAND USE

Pervious // Site

PERCENTAGE

85%

Pervious

4% 1%

Impervious Site

MATERIALS

USED

LAWN SURFACE DRAIN

MANICURED LAWN

Impervious // Site

RETENTION POND

Impervious// Buildings

Pervious // Canopy

Building Structure

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RESIDENTIAL ESTATES Pervious // Canopy

LAND USE

PERCENTAGE

12.20% CANOPY AREA

88.5% PERVIOUS AREA

8.75%

Pervious // Vegetation

IMPERVIOUS SITE

2.64%

IMPERVIOUS BUILDINGS

Impervious // Site

DOWNSPOUT

LAWN RUNOFF

Impervious // Buildings

SUBS-URFACE PIPE

BARREN SWALE

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY

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LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL Pervious // Canopy

LAND USE

PERCENTAGE

35.9%

CANOPY AREA

91.88%

PERVIOUS AREA

5.84%

Pervious // Vegetation

IMPERVIOUS SITE

2.27%

IMPERVIOUS BUILDINGS

Impervious // Site Impervious // Buildings

RETENTION POND SUBS-URFACE PIPE

LAWN RUNOFF

GRASS SWALE DOWNSPOUT

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY

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LAND USE

PERCENTAGE

26.7% CANOPY AREA

100%

Pervious // Canopy

RURAL AGRICULTURE

PERVIOUS AREA

IMPERVIOUS BUILDINGS

BARREN SWALE

STORMWATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY

Impervious // Site

0%

Impervious // Buildings

IMPERVIOUS SITE

Pervious // Vegetation

0%

13

14

15

16

NRCS Curve Numbers Percent Runoff

12.4%

01.0%

01.0%

Managed Open

16.7%

01.0%

01.0%

Estate Residence

18.2%

01.0%

08.1%

Suburban Agriculture

41.6%

43.5%

18.3%

Multi Family Residential

43.3%

13.8%

38.4%

Campus

57.0%

15.6%

54.0%

Industry

65.3%

37.1%

68.0%

Single Family

67.3%

21.5%

53.9%

Small Commerical

67.4%

22.8%

63.2%

Office Park

70.5%

43.4%

81.0%

Utilities

72.5%

46.5%

75.0%

Downtown Fringe

79.7%

46.3%

83.8%

Large Community

81.4%

48.0%

84.1%

Downtown Core

85.4%

56.7%

89.0%

Percent of Imperviousness

Rational Method Percent Runoff

Unmanaged Open Space

Landscape Typology

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PART02 . CONTAMINANT STUDY When analyzing a region, it’s incredibly important to study the subject area across a variety of scales. At the regional scale, we can assess potential land planning concerns like sprawling development into precious land covers like agriculture, woodlands, and streams. At the site level, we can examine existing canopy, construction materials, and stormwater technology that directly affect the surrounding watershed.

And at the micro level, we can study the specific particles that present the actual harm to water, flora, and fauna. Combined, these efforts present the most comprehensive understanding of the problem and, most importantly, the foundation to make assertive design decision that can affect change in the region. This study continues that exploration at a site and micro-level by exploring the components of stormwater that threaten our streams, and ultimately the regions overall health.

Stormwater runoff is often considered a threat to ecological systems in and around the site. But what specifically threatens stormwater quality?

For this part of the study, seven specific threats are discussed at the micro level. Each study provides a description of the contaminant, describing its origins, how it is transported and its impact on water, flora, and fauna. *Only a sample of the Contaminant Studies are included in this document. The total scope of contaminants examined include Heavy Metals, Pathogens, Hydrocarbons, Phosphorus and Nitrogen Compounds, Sediment, High Temperature Stormwater, and Pesticides.

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What is Sedimentation?

SEDIMENTATION

effect

cause

“Sedimentation is the single largest contributor to pollution of our nation’s rivers.” - CEPA,1987

Soil particles that have eroded from the surface that travel into waterways to damage the quality and quantity of water. Sedimentation is a natural process, but human impact has caused soil particles carry pollutants, destroy habitats, cause flooding, and make clear rivers into a cloudy dirty color.

Urbanization The mass amounts of development within the past century in the United States has created some serious implications for water.

Construction of homes, roadways, and other infrastructure has caused erosion of soil particles to travel into streams after a rain events.

Erosion caused from construction sites is the largest contributor of sedimentation damage to water.

Agriculture Erosion from agricultural land is the second largest contributor of sediments traveling into waterways. These fields have tilled loose sand based soil that can easily erode after a big rain event. Agriculture fields carry many pesticides that latch on to soil particles during a rain making their way to a stream or river. The soil particles are used as a transporter for pesticides extremely to damage the water quailty.

Forestry Construction sites are now required to use technologies that make an effort to prevent erosion happening on the site. Forestry however, does not have any rules or regulations in place to protect waterways from eroding soil particles. Forestry sites do massive amounts of destruction to that environment with heavy equipment causing large amounts of erosion to occur.

Dams and causeways These man-made systems disrupt how a watershed would naturally function. These systems can cause large amounts of erosion since the release of water is controlled by man. A dam keeps water from flooding on the higher side of the causeway, but when that large volume of water is released on the low side it typically floods areas that do not flood regularly collecting sediments.

Pollutants Attaching Sediment particles act as the transportation system for all polluntants that are making their way into the watershed. Some examples of pollutants that sediments carry are pesticides from agriculture fields, heavy metals that are found in the built environment, gasoline and oil runofff from automobiles, and several other pollutants. Sedimentation plays a key role in allowing these substances into the watershed.

Turbidity Tributaries, streams, and rivers use to be clear enough to see through. Excessive amounts of sedimentation from human influence has caused those moving waters to change into a nasty cloudy brown color.The heavy amounts of sediments in the water changes the composition of the water and how vivid rivers can be. The fast velocity of water makes the color cloudier and when the water begins to slow down the sediments begin to drop.

Flooding Sediments create more volume for a body of water and can cause it to flood because of the excess volume. Reservoirs trap many sediments and in result can reduce the storage capacity of what that reservoir can hold.

Sediments in developed areas can cause flooding due to clogged drain systems. The build of of sediments can cause serious flooding problems and more flooding will just lead to more sediments.

Erradicating Flora and Fauna The settling of sediments destroys aquatic habitats for both plants and animals. Sediments fill in void spaces of gravel not allowing certain species to spawn which disrupts the food chain. Soil particles damages fish getting in their gills and blinds them from feeding on their food. Sediments smoother marine life communities, increases water temperture which reduces oxygen, and decreases amount of sunlight which effects plant growth.

The Dead Zone is located where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico and is created from excessive nutrient pollution and sedimentation (yellow-browish color in the water). These combinations lead to little to no amounts of oxygen in the water, not allowing plant or animal life to survive.

“According to UNESCO 2005 sedimentation on the Mississippi River and its major tributaries, like the Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois Rivers, has long been an issue of serious concern. The Mississippi River brings enough sediment to extend the coast of Louisiana 20 91 miles each year”

SEDIMENTATION

“Expanding dead zones in coastal marine waters worldwide has caused water quality to decrease.

Dead zones decrease fisheries, which are important to the economy”- teachoceanscience.net

“Sediment fills up storm drains and catch basins to carry water away from roads and homes, which increases the potential for flooding” - Environmental Protection Agency “Nutrients transported by sediment can activate blue-green algae that release toxins and can make swimmers sick”- Environmental Protection Agency

S

Shouldn’t more funding go into preventing this problem to begin to reverse the domino effect it is causing?

From a social standpoint, wouldn’t it be more appealing to have clean, clear, and healthy rivers rather than their current condition?

“Sediment deposits in rivers can alter the flow of water and reduce water depth, which makes navigation and recreational use more difficult” - Environmental Protection Agency

Shouldn’t we be more concerned about the water our we are swimming in so we do not get sick?

“Sediment in stream beds disrupts the natural food chain by destroying the habitat where the smallest stream organisms live and causing massive declines in fish populations” - Environmental Protection Agency “Murky water prevents natural vegetation from growing in water” - Environmental Protection Agency

Since these micro organsims are the basis of the food chain shouldn’t we be more concerned how our actions are effecting the ecosystem?

“decreases in the amount of available sunlight which may in turn limit the production of algae Summary and macrophytes, increase water temperatures and reduce growth of natural vegetation”- CEP

Isn’t it a bad sign/wake up call that there is an area expanding in the Gulf that does not allow any life to live there?

Social

“Sediment increases the cost of treating drinking water and can result in odor and taste problems” - Environmental Protection Agency

If sedimentation is costing our economy so much then why have we not addressed it as the serious issue that it is?

Environmental

“Sediment pollution causes $16 billion in environmental damage annually” - Environmental Protection Agency

Economy

Why sedimentation is important to us? It effects our economy, our social standard, and our environment.

Summary

So sedimentation is a natural process that has been occurring before humans begin to affect the process for the worse. Streams naturally carried particles of bedrock and decomposing organisms to the ocean before human impacts. The mobilization of natural sediments are an extremely important process for the maintenance and development for habitats of wetlands, coast lines, estuaries, lagoons, coral reefs, and sand barriers. Anthropologic activity has caused negative implications on how sedimentation occurs today.

Sedimentation currently is contributing to the degradation of the health of water. Humans rarely notice the effects unless they notice how muggy a river might look or how serious a flood affects them because a storm drain has been clogged. Humanity is being affected more than what we can just physically observe. Sedimentation carries pollutants that completely change the composition of the quality of water. The consequences are extreme for flora and fauna in these polluted waterways. Destroying the habitats for these important organisms results in subtracting important links of the food chain. Soil particles also change the clear, reflective, and vivid appearance of water. Sedimentation increases the water’s turbidity or the cloudiness of water making it a brownish color. Before human influence on the environment most all rivers and streams had clear water. Sediments are also that source of transportation for pollutants. Pollutants attach themselves onto soil particles and make their way into the water system. Currently most watersheds that have had heavy amounts of human influence are clearly not healthy. It is our responsibility to protect and restore our watersheds with the intention of trying to return their condition back into their original state.

PESTICIDES IN RELATION TO STORMWATER QUALITY

TYPES OF APPLICATION

What are they? Why are they used?

Pesticides are classified as any substance intended for preventing, destroying repelling, or mitigating unwanted plants or animals. They are most often used in Agriculture, Urban environments, and the majority of households to control: insects, varmints, bacteria, viruses, molds, and many other “pest”.

How are they applied? How do they travel?

When pesticides are applied, whether it be on agricultural land or the average home garden, they are dispersed by a spraying mechanism which releases a chemical to control the affected area. These application methods are generally applied by hand sprayer, attachments to tractor, or crop duster plane. After the chemical has been dispersed only a small amount actually reaches the target area, so what happens to the other excess amount. Most of these pesticides settle onto the surface, leach into the soil, or are carried by wind depending on the chemicals properties and the spraying mechanism being used.

Dependant upon how the applicator has selected the chemical based on its two main properties determines how far these compounds will travel once they interact with environmental elements such as wind and rain. When this occurs the compounds typically evaporate in the air, dissolve in water or leach into the soils. From here the question arises how do we locate these chemicals and what are their effects on the environment as well as all the living species within it?

The Impact of Pesticides on the Environment.

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Due to the travel of pesticides from their target areas many of them end up in various wetlands, streams, and rivers. Since this is the case researchers have began looking into the effects of pesticides on the environment and have found their to be a disastrous amount of mortality rates of many plant and animal species. The first to really bring this to our attention was a women by the name of Rachel Carson. In her book “Silent Spring” she spoke about the effects of a very popular pesticide known as DDT and how it harmed many bird and animal species and had contaminated almost all of the worlds food supply.

After this book became popular DDT became very controversial and was then banned ten years later. The worst part about pesticides like these is that though they are banned, they are still showing up in water samples 40 years later according to a study on avocado groves in California. This study found that in over 60% of the samples taken DDT was still being detected. Not only are harmful chemicals like these from old school agricultural practice entering our freshwater streams and rivers, but over 125 million pounds of pesticides are being used in lawn and gardens every year which will likely end up in the exact same place. So now practices must be put to work to help end this detrimental impact and restore the health of our environment.

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Image to the Right: Sign Reads DDT Powerful Insecticide, Harmless to Humans

80 million pounds used yearly

DDT became very popular in the Agricultural and Commercial Industries around the U.S.

1945

A German student named Otmar Zeidler synthesized the chlorinated hydrocarbon dichlorodiphyltrichloroethane otherwise known as DDT

1874

Image to the left: Entomologist eating a tablespoon of DDT everyweek to show how safe it was to humans

Environmental Protection Agency bans the use of DDT in the United States due to its detriment of the environment and to humans.

1972

When World War II began Dr. Muller found it effective in getting rid of lice on war refugees

Won a noble prize for its use as a pesticide

Dr Paul Herman Muller synthesized DDT to determine that it was a successful insecticide.

1939

Researchers in Almeda, California found DDT in over 60% of water samples taken from stormwater runoff almost 40 years after it was banned.

2009

Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring was published, showing the harmful effects of chemicals such as DDT had on the environment.

1962

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PART03 . REGIONAL MAPPING With an inventory at the micro and site level, this study shifts to utilizing geospatial technology to assess the current conditions of the region.

With the data provided and collected in from both national and local resources, the study generated a series of maps that visualize the current conditions across the four county metropolitan area. At their core, these maps will provide spatial data to locate the variations of the data throughout the region. Certain maps identify different soils types and their distribution across the study area. Other maps extrapolate information from the base data to reveal additional data pertinent for stormwater management. This would include a map that indicates the infiltration rates for soils in the study area and speculate on what impacts that will have on managing water. Additionally, multiple data sets will be overlapped with the intention of revealing subtle narratives about the spatial relationships between two datasets. This would include a map of population growth in conjunction with streams and waterways.

The maps in this study represent only a portion of the inventory or the regions systems.

Insert All GIS Maps from Pa reposition text at the bottom so

LAND COVERAGE MAP

Variety of Land Coverage Data

Shelby county is full of development. The highest amount of development is downtown closest to the Mississippi River. The developed land starts out at the core and begins to spider web out

throughout the rest of the county. The development is defined by the natural features in the county like the streams, wetlands, and forested areas. Those features are what have driven the development growth pattern to what it is today. Most of

the woodlands follow linear with the rivers and wetlands with the developmen on the outside of that buffer. Scattered around the northern and eastern borders there are many hay pastures and agriculture cultivated crop fields. Most of the area around these

SHELBY COUNTY REGION

This map studies the Shelby County area. This map shows shelby county and reveals the different types of land cover throughout. Each color represents a different purpose of how that land is being used.

AMOUNT OF EACH LAND COVER

art03 here (one per spread) o that it is not in the page gutter

Lowest Percentage of Land Coverage Lowest to Highest

land covers are low in development. Some development is occuring in these regions but it is scarce.

SCALE 1� = 4 Miles

0

1

2

3

4 miles

0.05%

Herbaceous

0.29%

Barren Land

0.48%

Emergent Herbaceous Wetlands

0.99%

Mixed Forest

1.95%

Evergreen Forest

3.31%

High Density/ Developed

4.81%

Shrub/Shrub

5.22%

Open Water

7.65%

Hay Pasture

8.17%

Medium Density/ Developed

8.85%

Woody Wetland

10.39%

Deciduous Forest

13.66%

Low Density/ Developed

14.41%

Open Space/ Developed

20.19%

Cultivated Crops

Herbaceous

Barren Land

Emergent Herbaceous Wetlands

Mixed Forest

Evergreen Forest

High Density/ Developed

Shrub/Shrub

Open Water

Hay Pasture

Medium Density/ Developed

Woody Wetland

Deciduous Forest

Low Density/ Developed

Open Space/ Developed

Cultivated Crops

LEGEND

LAND COVERAGE MAP

Relation to Stormwater Runoff and Vegetation Absorption

Shelby County has a large amount of tree cover, Most of the cover lies on the outside of the intense development.. The tree line clearly depicts how wolf river is moving since there is woodlands on

either side of it. There are pocket of tree canopy scattered all throughout the developed areas. There are areas typically in the deep red that do not have any tree cover and have lots impervious surface area such as concrete or asphalt. These areas have a high

surface runoff rate because no canopy is absorbing the water. the white space mostly represents farmland where there is no canopy present. The lighter green indicates where smaller amount of vegetation are such as shrubs, herbaceous plants, ground covers,

SHELBY COUNTY REGION

The map studies just the shelby county region. This map reveals how much tree cover sepread out throughout. The map also indicates the areas that are causing low and high amount of water runoff.

RAINFALL VEGETATION ABSORPTION

5.2%

9.3%

69.4%

4.3%

31%

O er

er g Ve

n

io

at

er

py

et

no

ds

Ca

lan

e

th

th

O

e Tr

et W

at nW

pe

O

SURFACE RUNOFF

60.6%

13.6%

14.4%

8.1%

3.3%

76

51

ff

no

Ru

ff

ff

no

no

Ru

%

00

-1

5%

-7

Ru

ff

no

Ru

0%

-5

5%

ff

no

Ru

-2

%

26

1

0

LEGEND Ranging from Undeveloped Land

No Development

High Development

Open Water Wetlands Tree Canopy

and etc. These plants are important to help clean and absorb water that is polluted from vehicular fluids.

Other Vegetation

SCALE 1� = 4 Miles

0 % Runoff 1 - 25% Runoff 26 - 50% Runoff

0

1

2

3

4 miles

High Development

51 - 75% Runoff 76 - 100% Runoff

LAND COVERAGE MAP

Shelby county holds one of the largest cities in the mid south region.

Memphis has a very dense downtown core that is adjacent to the Mississippi River. The black closest to the river indicates that there is large amount of development that is mostly

Relation to Stormwater Infiltration made of up hard surfaces. Surfaces such as concrete, asphalt, metal, and other metals push water off of that surface whenever it rains. The downtown Memphis area has many of these materials and as a result much of the rainwater that falls on this part of shelby county is pushed away into concrete pipes leading to the Mississippi River.

Forcing all of the water from all of these surfaces is bad for both the quailty and quanity of the water. The Shelby county area is known to flood frequently as a result of these developed area.

Non of the water in these high developed areas is infiltrating back into the groundwater table. It is important for rain water to replenish the water

SHELBY COUNTY REGION

This map studies the just the Shelby County area. This county out of the four contains the highest amount of development that allows low infiltration. Most of the areas that are higher in infiltration are on the outskirts of the county. There are wetlands created off of the two smaller rivers that feed into the Mississippi River and also form development growth boundary..

Hydrology Cycle in Relation to Development

NRCS Website

40%

45%

15%

igh

at W

H

w Lo

er or

St e

ag

n

n

io

io

at

at

ltr

ltr

Infi

Infi

LEGEND High Infiltration/Low Runoff Rate

Areas Storing and Moving Water

Low Infiltration/High Runoff Rate

Open Water Emergent Herbaceous Wetlands Woody Wetland Cultivated Crops Evergreen Forest Deciduous Forest

High Infiltration/ Low Runoff Rate

Herbaceuous Mixed Forest Shrub/Shrub

table because that is the source of water being used by the people of Shelby for various things.

Everything that is a green color on the map shows were the rainwater does infiltrate and doesnt run water off to the next place. Instead the water is being treated right at the source.

Barren Land

SCALE 1� = 4 Miles

Hay/ Pasture Open Space/ Developed

0

1

2

3

4 miles

Low Infiltration/ High Runoff Rate

Low Density/ Developed Medium Density/ Developed High Density/ Developed

L

SLOPE ANALYSIS MAP

s

Vertical decline of slope

By providing slope analysis we can determine some important factors that will help identify our area of interest for a low impact development site. After observing this map we can determine what areas are flat and what areas

are steep according to varying color. This is very critical in determining our area of interest due to stormwater runoff issues. As shown above we can determine there are only a few areas that are over a 33 percent

slope. This means that land is unsuitable for development and may contain soil erosion problems pertaining to stormwater runoff. On the opposite end of the spectrum we have areas that are significantly flat and do not drain

SHELBY COUNTY AREA In order to narrow down our target area we must first look at the slope analysis map to understand how the percentages of slope are broken down amongst a variation of color. Below in the summary I explain what areas should be targeted and why.

This map along with an overlay of several other will really begin to emphasize our critical areas and will help to seek out our optimal site for low impact development.

LEGEND Slope Percentage shown by color

Water Boundary

SCALE 1� = 4 Miles

0-1.5% slope 1.5-3% slope

Legend water_bodies Fayettee_county_boundary

slope_percentage

3-5% slope

1 2 3- 15 4 miles 08.000000001

<VALUE> 0 - 1.5

15.00000001 - 19.90288925

1.500000001 - 3

19.90288926 - 20

3.000000001 - 5

20.00000001 - 33

5.000000001 - 8

33.00000001 - 200,000

properly or the water table is to high within this area. This in turn causes many issues with pollutants pooling in uncontrollable environ1 ingrounds, = 4 miles ments, mosquito nesting and damage to the existing environment whether it be

natural or built. So by focusing on these Miles particular areas we can now analyze the issue 0 1up with 2 solutions 4 to help mitigate and come the problems.

5-8% slope 8-15% slope 15-20% slope 20-33% slope 33% + slope

Soils Map

Permeability

This map shows the rate that the native soil is able to allow water to infiltrate down to the water table. The most permeable soils (shown in green) are the best native soils for infiltration.

Soils with a high permeability rate are able to absorb more water per hour that soils with a low permeability rate. These soils are ideal for storm water management practices whose goal is to allow water to infiltrate and recharge the local aquifer. The least perme-

able soils (shown in red) take a longer period of time to for the same volume of water to infiltrate into it than the same volume into a more permeable soil. When water interacts with this soil ,depending on the slope, it will either pool or run off quickly. The Memphis

ALL 4 COUNTIES REGION

The 4 counties this map studies are Shelby, TN, Fayette, TN, Desoto, MS, and Crittenden, AR. The map shows that there are native soils that are ideal for low impact storm water management practices.

LEGEND

High Infiltration

0-.06 Inches/Hour

.06-.20 Inches/Hour

Medium Infiltration

metropolitan area has soils with both high and low permeability providing opportunity to take advantage of the native soils ideal for infiltration, while mitigating the negative effects of low infiltrating soils

.57-1.98 Inches/Hour

SCALE 1â&#x20AC;? = 6 Miles

0

1.5

3

.20-.57 Inches/Hour

4.5

6 miles

Low Infiltration

1.98+ inches/Hour

Soils Map

Depth to Water Table

This map illustrates the varying depth of the water table across the four target counties. The soils shown in green have deep water tables providing more subsurface storage for water. These

soils can absorb more water before becoming saturated and are ideal for stormwater management practices focusing on infiltration. The soils shown in red have a shallow water table and will become saturated quickly in any storm event and provide

almost no subsurface storage

ALL 4 COUNTIES REGION

The 4 counties this map studies are Shelby, TN, Fayette, TN, Desoto, MS, and Crittenden, AR. All of the counties except Crittenden have a fairly balanced ratio of shallow to deep water tables. Crittenden is a almost completely made up of shallow water tables making it ideal for growing rice. In Shelby county the reparian zones have shallow water tables

LEGEND

Depth To Water Table Shallow Water Table Depth

0-12 in

12-20 in

Medium Water Table Depth

36-60 in

SCALE 1â&#x20AC;? = 6 Miles

0

1.5

3

20-36 in

4.5

6 miles

Deep Water Tab

60+ in

Soils Map

Drainage Rates

This map shows the drainage rates of each soil which is a measure of how quickly water runs off the surface of the soil. The well drained soils (Shown in Green) do not absorb much water it just

runs down slope on the surface of the soil.

The soils with poor drainage (Shown in Red) will pool water on the surface and prevents the water from infiltrating into the soil, which can lead to erosion.

SHELBY COUNTY REGION The 4 counties this map studies are Shelby, TN, Fayette, TN, Desoto, MS, and Crittenden, AR. The drainage rates vary across the target region and the high drainage rates have a higher potential for erosion if it is bare.

LEGEND High Runoff Rate

Excessively Well Drained

Well Drained

Medium Runoff Rate

Moderately Well Drained

Somewhat Poorly Drained

SCALE 1â&#x20AC;? = 6 Miles Low Runoff Rate

0

1.5

3

4.5

6 miles

Poorly Drained

Insert All GIS Maps from Pa reposition text at the bottom so

Aquifer Map

County Types

Semiconsoladated Sand. These aquifers consist of semiconsolidated sand interbedded with silt, clay, and minor carbonate rocks. These aquifers tend to be deeper than others.

Unconsolidated sand and gravel aquifers can be grouped into four categories: basin-fill aquifers, which also are called â&#x20AC;&#x153;valley-fill aquifersâ&#x20AC;?; blanket sand and gravel aquifers; glacial-deposit aquifers; and stream-valley aquifers. All four types have intergranular porosity

ALL 4 COUNTIES REGION This is the Aquifer layer types for all 4 counties.

Aquifers are important in human habitation and agriculture. Deep aquifers in arid areas have long been water sources for irrigation. The aquifers that provide sustainable fresh groundwter to urban areas are typically close to the ground surface

art03 here (one per spread) o that it is not in the page gutter

LEGEND Layer Type

Unconsolidated Sand and Gravel Semiconsolidated Sand Sandstone Carbonate-Rock Sandtone and Carbonate-Rock Ingenous and Metanorphic Rock Other Rocks

SCALE 1â&#x20AC;? = 40 Miles

46

PART04 . GIS MODELING Armored with multiple levels of inventory data, geospatial technology will be utilized to assess the current conditions of the region and establish a methodology for design implementation. This process, known as GIS modeling, will establish values to mapped data in order to identify priority locations for Low Impact Development proposals or retrofit projects.

The strategic placement of these LID projects in urbanized watersheds will encourage municipalities and regional planning agencies to focus their resources and incentivize outside funding in these locations with the greatest possible environmental impact. Whereas traditional stormwater management is typically centralized, utilizing end-of-pipe control measures to move water quickly, potential design solutions will aim for a localized approach to stormwater management.

The result of this modeling process is a weighted formula (or model) and single results map indicating focus areas based on that model.

47

These were the maps that we decided were the most beneficial in trying to find areas that had the best oppertunity for redevelopment. These maps were extracted from GIS. The top map is representing Shelby Countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s landcover, next is a soils map, then a hydrology map, and last is a slope map.

48

We then assigned each a higher value to the maps that we thought were more important and a lower value for ones that were of less importance. Our methodology was to assign specific values for each chacteristic of each map and label it on the notecard to the left, then give it a percentage on the right.

These maps are reclassified maps that we created in GIS based on our values we assigned to the maps. It displays the ideal areas for redevelopment in the green and then the red represents the areas that do not have best oppertunity to redevelop.

We labeled both of the m having equal importance there on the maps were together to produce a ov map .

maps e. From e merged verlay

This overlay map contains all of the information to the left combined to make all of the information easier to read and to produce one graphic.

We then manually munipulated data in another program that could not be altered in GIS. This data consisted on a half mile proximity to schools map, tree canopy cover map, and a road network map.

This final overlay map contains all of the data in the model merged together. The GIS data and the data we had to manually munipulate. This map shows the general areas of where the best oppertunities are to redevelop using low impact development strategies.

49

The map above displays a total weighted overlay of all data sets our group deemed necessary in considering sites for redevelopment and retrofit. The maps that used in the overlay included land cover, population density, proximity to schools, roads, streams, canopy interception, depth to water table, soil infiltration rates, and slope percentages. All of these maps were classified and assigned a specific value to provide a quantitave result in the areas with the ability to produce 50 the best opportunistic strategies for a low impact development site. This

composite overlay was assigned a value from 1-9 ranging from a monochromatic color scheme of white to dark grey (9 being most suitable for redevelopment).

The areas ranked #9 are a lime green circle on the map and clusters of this color show high concentrated areas for suitability. The large circle areas that have high concentrated 9 values are located within a Âź mile radius of school clusters, proximity to major roadways and have a high population density we believe are the most suitable areas for redevelopment.

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52

This shows the full physical model of the New Development target areas. It starts with the basic information on the furthest row to the left. The next row to the right has our reclassified data. The next two rows are Our weighted overlays leading into our final map.

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New Development Paradigm

54

Central Gardens

Bartlett

East Memphis

ALL 4 COUNTIES REGION

The 4 counties this map studies are Shelby, TN, Fayette, TN, Desoto, MS, and Crittenden, AR. Locating areas best suited for new development by assessing the Economic, Environmental, and Social viability of the target area focusing on conditions with the greatest benefit for low impact development techniques. Economic selection was based on land uses. We focused on areas of medium and low density for development while trying to totally avoid areas such as woodlands and wetlands, by doing this the development will be more concentrated and will be able to take advantage of the services the municipality is already providing. Environmental selection was based on a wide variety of criteria, such as slope percentages, stream corridors, soil condition, climate factors, vegetation, and wildlife habitat. For slope percentages we focused our potential development to slopes between 0-8% to try and mitigate the harmful impacts of large scale grading that can harm the existing environmental systems. We created a 450ft buffer zone from streams that would prevent any largescale development from happening in that area. The existing stream buffer will be maintained while areas inside the buffer zone will be managed to restore a healthy riparian system. We tried to focus development on soils with low permeability and a high runoff rate while preserving soils with high permeability and low runoff rate for conservation areas. Social selection was based on existing population density and expected population growth. We want to promote development in areas that are projected to grow and also infill in areas of medium population density.

Canopy

Target Population Demographics

LEGEND

Possible New Development Areas Undesired Development Areas Expected Population Growth/ Population Density

Lakeland

School Locations

55

56

PART05 . LID TOOLKIT Best Management Practices (BMPs) is a term used to describe a type of water pollution control. These practices can be non-structural, aimed at preventing water resource impacts through pollution prevention and water use efficiency. They can also be structural, capable of treating stormwater quality and helping to manage stormwater quantity at the source.

This portion of the study explores structural BMPs, documenting the techniques, materials, and products associated with each particular BMP. It will also evaluate the environmental services (eco-services) of each structural BMP. This will involve gauging both the stormwater benefits and any additional benefits that separate it from traditional, utilitarian stormwater management.

The LID approach seeks to manage runoff volume and stormwater contamination close to its source. This is accomplished through a variety of stormwater best management practices distributed throughout a site or watershed that promote infiltration, retention, biological treatment, and evapotranspiration processes. *Only a sample of the LID Toolkit is included in this document. Structural BMPs examined in this document include Rain Gardens, Vegetated Swales, Sand Filters, Urban Bioretention Cells, Tree Boxes, Permeable Paving, Green Roofs, Constructed Wetlands, and Riparian Buffers.

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DRY VEGETATED SWALE Vegetated swales are shallow, vegetated channels which treat and convey storm-water runoff. Unlike typical storm-water conveyance structures, such as pipes, concrete channels or drainage channels, vegetated swales slow runoff velocity, filter out storm-water pollutants, reduce runoff temperatures and, under certain conditions, infiltrate runoff into the ground as groundwater. Vegetated swales require engineered soils which storm-water can permeate through and a dense vegetative cover t`o reduce erosion. Check dams placed periodically along the length of the swale slow runoff and promote filtration and infiltration. Swales are underlain with a layer of gravel to temporarily store runoff after it permeates through the soil layer and an under-drain, if necessary, to convey runoff to a storm-water pipe or additional storm-water facility. Conveyance channels that do not employ specially designed soil mediums will not remove pollutants as efficiently as vegetated swales. The swale pictured to the right is a low profile swale that would be implemented in a residential environment.

STORM-WATER BENEFITS • • • •

Reduces storm-water runoff Filters storm-water runoff Improves quality of local surface waterways Provides local flood control

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

• • • •

Enhances aesthetic appeal of streets Provides wildlife habitat Reduces soil erosion Cost effective way of managing storm-water

COST CONSIDERATIONS

Approximately $10/linear foot

CONTAMINANT REMOVAL

Suspended solids Phosphorus Nitrogen Zinc Copper

58

Insert Structural B

BMP Sheets here

VEGETATION LAYER MULCH LAYER ENGINEERED SOIL LAYER GRAVEL LAYER UNDER-DRAIN

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Rain GaRden A Rain Garden is a sunken, generally flat bottomed garden bed that collects and treats stormwater runoff from rooftops, driveways, sidewalks, parking lots, and streets. Rain gardens help mimic natural forest, meadow, or prairie conditions by infiltrating stormwater from hard surfaces. Rain gardens help the health of the watershed by reducing flooding by collecting rain water from hard surfaces, filtering oil, grease, and toxic materials before they enter streams, recharge groundwater by allowing water to infiltrate, and providing wildlife habitat. As parts of our landscapes become more developed, the rainfall that lands on hard surfaces is rerouted into pipes, ditches and storm drains, this method does not provide time for pollutants to be filtered out and just pushes them downsteam. Managing stormwater runoff by infiltrating it into the ground is one of the simplest ways to actively protect our streams. A rain garden is a great way to manage stormwater and is very low maintenance. Rain Gardens also provides a perfect habitat for birds and butterflies as they migrate or year round. The plants also provide a fragrant balm or smell.

trees Acer Rubrum red maple Gleditsia tracanthos Honey locust Populus spp. Poplars Maclura pomifera osage orange

Stormwater BenefitS • • • • •

Temporary Storage of Stormwater Allows Sediment to settle out of stormwater Separates heavy metals from stormwater Plants absorb nitrogen from water Cleans pesticides from model

additional BenefitS • • • •

Bird Habitat Bee habitat Butterfly Habitat Aesthetically Pleasing

CoSt ConSiderationS Materials Needed • 6” PVC pipe for Underdrain • Filter Fabric

Contaminant removal VC Hydrocarbons Lead Arsenic DDT Zinc

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6” above Ground Storage

1.5’ 1’ Soil Graded medium Gravel Storage

6” Underdrain

Birds Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina Song Sparrow

Melospiza melodia Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus House Sparrow Passer domesticus Pine Siskin Spinus pinus

Butterflies Papilio glaucus Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Erynnis funeralis Funereal Duskywing Pyrgus communis Common CheckeredSkipper Pholisora catullus Common Sootywing Strymon melinus Gray Hairstreak Cupido comyntas Eastern Tailed-Blue Anagrapha falcifera Celery Looper Moth

Grasses and Understory Plants Hamamelis virginiana Witchhazel Hamamelis virginiana Witchhazel Ilex verticillata Winterberry Physocarpus opulifolius Ninebark Sambucus nigra European elderberry Viburnum dentatum Arrowwood Viburnum trilobum american cranberry bush Andropogon gerardii Big bluestem Panic grass Aquilegia spp. Columbine Asclepias incarnata Swamp milkweed

Aster divaricatus white wood aster Aster laevisSmooth aster Baptesia australis Blue false indigo Chelone glabra white turtlehead Cimicifuga racemosa Bugbane Dennstaedtia punctilobula Hay scented fern Echinacea purpurea Coneflower Eupatorium maculatum Joe Pye weed Eupatorium rugosum white Snakeroot Filipendula rubra Queen of the prairie Liatris spp. Gayfeather

Matteuccia pennsylvanica ostrich fern Panicum virgatum Switch grass Osmunda cinnamomea Cinnamon fern Rudbeckia spp. Black eye Susan Schizachyrium scoparium little Bluestem Solidago spp. Goldenrod Tiarella cordifolia Foam flower Phlox subulata moss Phlox

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TREE BOX FILTRATION SYSTEM Known for its role in urban settings, the box filter is typically used along paved roads and parking lots as a Bioretention mechanism. It helps to remove pollutants from water before evaporating into the air, or infiltrating into the surrounding soil. The box filter is generally made up of 3 main components: a mixture of soil, plant material, and a chamber. The chamber in this case is a suspended modular pavement system used to support the foot traffic on top that is backfilled with a layer of aggregate and well-drained soil to allow proper growth of trees in this urban setting. Above the soil layer lays a void space to allow excess room for water to be stored during large rain events and allows air to enter into the subsurface system promoting healthy tree growth. The plant materials selected for this system consist of trees that can be both drought and flood tolerant and must be adaptable to urban environments. Once water has entered into the soil from either the curb inlet or pervious pavers system trees then take the water and transpire it into the air. Which in turn provides healthy tree growth and enhances the view of the plaza area.

1.

6.

STORMWATER BENEFITS • • • • •

Helps to redmove hydrocarbons, pesticides, heavy metals, etc.

Reduces stormwater quantity Reduces temperature of water Releases water back into the air through evapotranspiration Is a great holding facility for stormwater.

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS • • • • •

Reduces carbon into the air Enhances streetscapes, and plazas Provides more shade creating more social interaction within a space Helps to reduce Heat Island Effect.

Reduces noise pollution

COST CONSIDERATIONS •

Suspended modular pavement system cost are around $16.00 per square foot and includes soil media. For 3,360 cubic feet of this system including soil it will cost around $53,760. This price does not include aggregate for bottom layer nor does it include price of tree.

CONTAMINANT REMOVAL

Removes: hydrocarbons, pesticides, heavy metals, and particular types of bacteria

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1. Pervious Pavers are used in plaza to absorb water through porous space to allow proper infiltration into subsurface storage.

2. Modular suspended pavement system that supports large tree growth in small urban settings and provides space to store large amounts of water after a storm event.

5.

2.

4.

3.

3. Coarse Aggregate is used as a subsurface base to provide adequate storage of stormwater in its porous space and create a base for the suspended modular pavement system.

4. For proper infiltration, storage of water, and adequate tree growth a well blended mixture of topsoil, sand, and compost are used in the tree box.

5. Void space shown between the blended soil mix and suspended pavement system is used to allow water storage during a large rain event and allow room for the tree growth.

6. After water has entered the void space there is an overflow located directly below the alternate entry point to allow excess water to flow into the overdrain and into the stormwater system.

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CONSTRUCTER WETLANDS

Traditional Stormwater Approach

Constructed wetlands are man-made treatment systems that emulate how natural wetland systems function by also providing the same ecosystem service benefits. The environmental protection agency describes wetlands as the “earth’s kidneys” because of how they filter pollutants caused by anthropologic activity today.

Constructed wetlands fall under a category called biomimicry, which is the science of using nature’s process to solve problems caused by humans. These systems perform biological processes through microorganisms, plants, and soil media. Much of the water going through this system is infiltrated into the ground and eventually percolates to the water table. These wetland provide numerous benefits in restoring the health of water quality and reduce the water quantity issues.

STORMWATER BENEFITS • • • • •

Cleans stormwater through filtrating it through plant and soil media.

Traps pollutants and containments from traveling to a larger water source.

Has a high storage capacity storing sub surface and above the surface.

Reduces water temperature from plants cooling the water.

Overflow filter traps litter or trash from traveling to a larger water source.

No Absorption of Pollutants

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS •

•

•

•

Habitat – wetlands provide habitats for microorganisms that are fed on by other types of wildlife. These systems attract waterfowl, butterflies, insects, and amphibian species that are an important part of our ecosystem.

Air quality – microbes in wetlands improve air quality by converting organic nitrogen in a usable form for plant growth and into gasses that release into the atmosphere. Microorganisms also play a role in the removal and transformation of pollutants.

Erosion – Edge wetland plant species can capture sediments before reaching the flow channel of a moving body of water. The more rhizomes systems and roots mature the more that they are holding sediments from eroding.

Wastewater treatment – constructed wetlands can be used to clean wastewater from residential homes or other buildings. The wastewater must go through a system called “living machine cells” before entering the wetland. These systems are the some of the most advanced wastewater treatment methods in the world today.

COMPONENTS

1 Culvert Inlet

2 Concrete Channel 3 Grass Lawn

COST CONSIDERATIONS

Constructed Wetlands are an extremely cost efficient way to treat stormwater runoff. The intial implementation cost can range from around $3.60 per sq.ft to around $7.00 per sq. ft. depending on what additional features you are including. Other than cleaning out litter for time to time, these systems replicate a product of nature and maintain themselves through biological processes so no additional maintenance is necessary.

CONTAMINANT REMOVAL - Nitrogen - Phosphorous - HydroCarbons - Heavy Metals - Pathogens 64

Detention Basin

4 Overflow

LID Stormwater Approach

Evapotranspiration

H20

02

1

1

H20

2

2 3

3

4 5

4

n

Abs

orpt

Minimal Infiltration

N

P

HC

HM

ion

of P o

lluta

nts

gh Hi

o ati iltr

Inf

PA

COMPONENTS

1 Culvert Inlet

4 Native Wetland Plants

2 River Rock Stream

5 Overflow/ Filter Drain

3 Gabion Structures

RENAISSANCE PARK Chattanooga, Tennessee

DETENTION POND Palm Coast, Florida

Constructed Wetlands 65

Constructed Wetlands 1 3’0”

4

1’6”

5

1’0”

6

Materials

1 Aquatic Plants 2 Wet / Drought Tolerant Plants

7

3Drought Tolerant Plants

8

4Stream Stones 5Gravel Layer

12’0”

6Sand Filter 7 Soil Mix

Detention Basin

8Sub-Surface Soil

3’0”

Materials

2

1 Concrete Channel

3

2 Grass Lawn

1 0’6”

2

3

3Sub-Surface Soil Constructed Wetlands

Culvert Inlet

Flow Channel / Infiltration Zone

Gabion Wall Flow Channel / Gabion Wall Wetland Plants Infiltration Zone Wetland Plants

Flow Channel / Infiltration Zone

Gabion Wall Wetland Plants

Fl Infi

Detention Basin

Culvert Inlet

66

Grass Lawn/

Material Examples - Cattails - Louisiana Iris - Horsetail

Constructed Wetlands vs. Traditional Detention Basins

- Blue-eyed Grass - Coneflower

Traditional detention basins are part of a model of an older paradigm that was before our current and most innovative stormwater best management practices were discovered. Most all detention basins are designed to only function for one thing and that is to hold a large quantity of water from a rain event. These basins are typically made up of grass lawn and do not contribute to the many water quality issues there are in the world today. If anything they contribute more to worsening the quality of the water from the pesticides used to keep the lawn free of weeds. The concrete strip in the middle increases the velocity at which water flows and causes erosion typically where the strip ends. Leaves and litter can easily stop up the drain grate and cause the detention basin to overflow causing flooding during a heavy rain event. On the other end of the spectrum from this hard engineering are constructed wetlands. These systems can be referred to as green or soft engineering because of its use of biomimicry and resilience in the landscape. Constructed wetlands actually hold a higher amount of water than detention basins obtain due to the fact that plants are absorbing water, water is infiltrating into the soil media, water is simultaneously evapotranspirating from plant materials, and the gravel and sand filter act as a sub-surface storage layer. All of these elements together help to prevent flash flooding from happening, which is the most dangerous and frequent environmental disaster in the United States today. Polluted runoff from agriculture fields, streets, and residential yards is cleaned through plants and soil media, which will improve the water quality in the system. A gravel overflow filter does not get clogged and keeps leaves and litter from traveling to a larger water system. The leaves will eventually decompose into top soil to add to the top layer of the wetland. These wetlands are truly a regenerative system and it is time to make a change from the old utilitarian functioning detention basins and introduce more constructed wetlands to control the overall health of our nation’s watershed.

- Muhly Grass - Blue Vervain - Black-eyed Susan - Rip-Rap Rock - River Rock - #57 Pea Gravel - Quartzite Gravel - #57 Wash Gravel

- Pure Sand - 1/3 Sand - 1/3 Top Soil - 1/3 Compost

- Native Soil Type

low Channel / filtration Zone

Gabion Wall Wetland Plants

Water Storage Zone

Flow Channel / Infiltration Zone

Gabion Wall Wetland Plants

Flow Channel / Infiltration Zone

Gravel Filter Overflow/ 6” Radius Culvert Pipe

Metal Grate Overflow/ 6” Radius Culvert Pipe

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68

69

1

3 2

4

5

6

HARRISON CREEK DEMONSTRATION SITES SITE01: Travis Crabtree SITE02: Tyrell Miller SITE03: Andrew Tarsi SITE04: Nathan Locke SITE05: Forrest Merrill SITE06: Michael Richmond SITE07: Kenny Jones

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7

PART06 . HARRISON CREEK PILOT PROJECTS Based on results from GIS modeling, areas in and around Harrison creek, located in NE Memphis, received high values for potential of retrofit and redevelopment using Low Impact Development strategies.

The creek in its current state is an engineered waterway. It manages the high volume of stormwater, likely with the sole purpose of flood prevention. The stormwater pressure on the creek today is immense with concrete walls as high as nine feet where the creek empties into Wolf River. As the focus has shifted solely to managing high volumes of stormwater, it has consequently turned away from managing stormwater quality, providing habitat for wildlife, and connecting people with nature and its systems.

These demonstration projects aim to incrementally reverse the stormwater quantity pressure and begin to engage the city with Harrison Creek once again. *Only a portion of the pilot projects are included in this condensed document. A full document can be acquired from Assistant Professor Peter Summerlin in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Mississippi State University.

71

etland/Wetland Observatory

72

Observation Deck

Single Family Residential Lots

Open Space/Event Space

Central Burm

Mixed-Use Buildings

Highway 14/Complete Street

Existing Apartment Complexes

Brid

dge/Creek Connection

HARRISON CREEK VILLAGE

TRAVIS CRABTREE

PROJECT NARRATIVE:

Harrison Creek

Detention Area

Public Park Space

The purpose of my project is to create a flexible template for cities to follow that demonstrates how water can be designed to be an amenity that creates public space and through design can create a popular, safe, ecological, neighborhood.

The design controls stormwater in an effective manner, which provides numerous benefits to water quality and quantity opposed to the current dogmatic system that treats it. Since the site is at the end of Harrison “Creek” it will need to hold a vast amount of water coming from runoff upstream and to be flexible for possible flood events coming from the Wolf River down stream. The system is at the end of the creek it and will treat the largest amount of contaminants in the water from the roadways before traveling directly into the Wolf River. This solution is eligible to apply to any dilapidated grey infrastructure water management system, but it can be extremely beneficial socially, economically, and environmentally in lower class neighborhoods. This design provides the opportunity to rethink how this creek can actually provide multiple services for the community rather than providing a single engineered service to worsen the neighborhood situation.

The redesigned site emphasizes on enhancing the community’s culture, providing educational opportunities to people about ecology, promoting a healthier lifestyle, enhancing the safety of the community, encouraging social class integration, and influencing people’s social interaction experience. Culturally the design focuses on creating an interesting artistic culture by incorporating three dimensional art pieces at focal points through the site. Each sculpture piece is designed to display a timeline of different stormwater paradigms that humans have created throughout history. The sculptural art will serve as educational components by having small information kiosks about each paradigm sculpture. One of the primary goals in doing this is to educate people on how important of a resource water is and hopefully increase their appreciation for this significant resource. This site is significant because it is in a lower class dangerous neighborhood. Creating a mixed-use commercial frontage, diverse types of residential housing, and public space can enhance the social fabric of the entire neighborhood to make it a safer environment. It is easy to forget about these places since we do not visit them because they are dangerous and there is nothing there worth visiting. The site is designed structurally to be a safe place and the non-structural safety component would be the security guard that monitors the site for any mischievous behavior. The parking lots are designed to be within the center of the commercial buildings to prevent any unwanted activity from occurring there. The lots would have surveillance cameras in each corner of the buildings and the lots would be gated at a certain time at night when all the commercial activity is shut down for the evening. One great aspect about this redeveloped site is it encourages social integration. There are three activity areas that influence ones social experience on the site. The first space is at the front of the site and is an extremely vibrant social space due to the restaurants and shops of the commercial area. The middle area public space is more passive and made for flexible possibilities from recreation to event space for entertainment performances. In the far back is the third space that is an observatory wetland that engages an individual to interact with nature by exploring trails and

73

Highway 14 Street Section

Highway 14 Street Section

Co

15’ Mixed-Use Building

10’

Furnishing Zone

Bike Lanes

6’

11’

11’

11’

11’

11’

11’

11’

11’

Path/ Buffer

On Street Parking

Travel Lane for On Street Parking

Dry Vegatated Swale

Travel Lane

Vegatated Median

Travel Lane

Dry Vegatated Swale

Travel Lane for On Street Parking

165’

Highway Section Mixed-Use Building

15’ Furnishing Zone

10’ Bike Lanes

6’

11’

11’

11’

11’

11’

11’

11’

11’

Path/ Buffer

On Street Parking

Travel Lane for On Street Parking

Dry Vegatated Swale

Travel Lane

Vegatated Median

Travel Lane

Dry Vegatated Swale

Travel Lane for On Street Parking

Overlook Terrace Section

11’ On Street Parking

15’ Throughway Zone

10’ Furnishing Zone

Mixed-Use Building

165’

Overlook Terrace Section

Mixed-Use Building

25’

6’

15’

8’

Upper Terrace Gathering Space

Gabion Terrace

Lower Terrace Gathering Space

Gabion Terrace

12’

36’

82’

Low Flow Channel/ Filtration Layers

Dry/Wet Tolerant Native Plant Material

Native Praire Plant Material

36’ Dry/Wet Tolerant Native Plant Material

316’

Terrace Section

74

25’

6’

15’

8’

36’

12’

36’

Constructed Wetland Detail

onstructed Wetland Detail

11’ On Street Parking

15’ Throughway Zone

10’ Furnishing Zone

Mixed-Use Building

36’

24’

36’

Recreational Lawn

Sculpture Art

Recreational Lawn

learning about why wetlands are important. Overall this redevelopment project would provide a diverse range of social opportunities for the Harrison Creek community.

The Harrison Creek area currently has poor economic conditions. The creek cost millions of dollars in concrete and iron infrastructure to construct, and now it is beginning to reach the end of it’s lifespan. A huge economic issue is the decrease in property value due to dangerous highway, run down commercial shopping strips, and poorly planned parking lots. This type of development along with the creek and some other factors are what has helped degrade this area.

The redevelopment design uses sustainable methods for certain components of the site such as gabion walls that use recycled existing grey infrastructure that can increase the longevity of the creek and prevent it from requiring constant maintenance. Removing the existing commercial development and replacing it a dense urban commercial core that overlooks a large amount of public space will help to increase the surrounding property values by a significant amount. This commercial development will also help to create more tourism and provide job opportunities for people in the surrounding area. Another big factor that will help increase the value of the area is enhancing the highway to become more human friendly. Implementing a streetscape that is less dangerous and reduces noise pollution will bring much more economic value around Harrison Creek. Statistics have shown that property values located within a quarter mile of a park are much higher than ones that are not adjacent to one. The stormwater park will draw a lot of economic value through increasing property value, entertainment events at the amphitheater, the café in the park, and through all the tourist that come to visit that spend money at the commercial businesses that overlook it. There are many factors in this retrofit design that would provide economic advantages for both the Harrison Creek community and the entire community of Shelby County.

Currently the way that stormwater is being treated in Harrison Creek is a utilitarian single purpose approach that only is concerned about holding a large quantity of water. The creek does not address cleansing the highly contaminated water. The redevelopment design produces countless incentives that are more beneficial to the quantity and quality of water than what is currently there. There are many ecosystem services plants and soils provide through natural biological processes. Having these important elements in the landscape will create a habitat for microorganisms and larger forms of wildlife that will then feed on those creatures creating the circle of life. Life is an important element to have in our watersheds because they carry one of earth’s most precious resources…water.

Concrete is not providing any service for the creek other than detain the volume of water, which holds an inferior amount in comparison to the site’s redevelopment approach. The design meanders the creek like it would in the natural environment that has not be influenced by humans. The meandering shape holds a larger quantity of water and absorbs water through plants and soil to reduce the volume. Each area on the site has a smaller stormwater BMP that manages the water at the source, which reduces the amount that is conveyed into Harrison Creek.

This redevelopment project is a promising step in the right direction.

It would completely alter their unfortunate situation the area has been put it and provide multiple opportunities for the residents to get involved in something that promotes a positive quality of life. This project could be the pilot project that opens the door to similar situations in the Shelby county area and even influence other places around the country that have matching characteristics. The creek contributes to creating a negative social experience, economic issues, and environmental problems for the area and needs a design that will address all three of these categories.

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Inventory There are large commerical parking surfaces push polluted water runoff into a culvert which feeds into harrison creek.

There is a seven lane highway that runs through the site that also feeds itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s polluted water into harrison creek.

There are poorly designed commerical buildings that are setback from the street and also sends itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s water runoff into the creek.

The giant salvage car lot pollutes the soil that is beneath it and also pollutes the creek by moving water sheet flowing into streams that connect to it.

The large woodland on the west side of the site is one of the few places that is actually helping to handle water where it falls.

Analysis The solution for the large parking surfaces needs to somewhat address handling water where it falls instead of contributing into the creek.

The solution for the highway surface needs to somewhat address handling water where it falls instead of contributing into the creek.

The commerical buildings need to be redesigned to be more people friendly rather than just having a utilitarian use for vehicles.

The giant salvage car lot needs to be eliminated and the soil needs to be capped to prevent highly polluted soil from getting into the water.

The design needs to minimize the amount of woodland being demolished because it is providing many ecosystem services.

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This image is a birds eye perspective at the highest elevation of the site.

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These are schematic plans that lead to the master planning phase of the design. Each color represents a different program element . The red represents the commerical areas ,the lime green is public space, the turquiose is residential , and the blue is stormwater mangement areas.

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This is a grading plan for the site. The site has been graded in a way the collects and conveys water in a ecological manner.

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JACKSON PARK DEVELOPMENT

ANDREW TARSI

PROJECT NARRATIVE:

Harrison Creek has been identified as a primary contributing source to stormwater faults in Shelby County such as flooding, erosion, and sedimentation. All of these factors impact this site greatly because of the pressure placed upon Harrison Creek and its watershed, meanwhile public lands and developments have become obsolete due to improper planning and furthermore maintenance of these properties. By redeveloping Jackson Park and the adjacent commercial area through Low Impact Development strategies this neighborhood and watershed can once again become vibrant and productive contributors to the social and environmental context. With an initial reduction in impervious surfaces in the entry and commercial area the park can become easier to access from Jackson Avenue. Within the commercial node there are multiple ways that stormwater can be captured including green roofs, rain barrels, dry swales, tree boxes and bio-retention cells. These different strategies are beneficial to the storage and quality of runoff but can also improve the public spaces within. Creating the proper public space to connect the development to the park is important, which results in a gathering plaza that both components of the redevelopment can use, park and commercial. In the lowland area of the park flooding will take place through a variety of hydric pondings and paths. Because of these areas being partially flooded, primary paths in the lowland are elevated in many areas. These primary paths connect to secondary paths that are low lying and submersed into the vegetation and hydric systems. Outfall points are determined by the native path of water from outside sources and within the site. Further upland there are multiple points and scales of stormwater capturing, detention, and bio-retention.

On the ridge of Jackson Park there are multiple scales of structures that are collecting rainwater, portraying and education water storage, then eventually conveying it further through the system. With over 25 feet in elevation from top to bottom of the ridge, pockets for detention and artful conveyance are suitable.

Other education opportunities lie within the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s storm plaza and other conveyance systems that create art through the path of water.

By creating this standard within the city of Memphis there is opportunity for projects and waterways like this that can be retrofitted to properly function in Shelby Countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unique eco-system. With these types of sites and projects the community, the municipality, and business owners can benefit in their own respective ways. The most prevalent topic is the cost of retrofitting a county and its watershed for less than a fortune. There is merit to the discussion but there is also no reason to believe that all of this can be implemented in a moments notice. Just like the Wolf River and surrounding streams, they cannot be remediated of their high-speed waters and erosion in by just one project. With the correct perspective on the long term phasing of Shelby County, stormwater can become a celebration rather than a trepidation of the City of Memphis. An effort to retrofit in these areas would bring many other benefits to the community other than stormwater remediation. With Low Impact Development improvements can be seen within commercial corridors, pedestrian travel zones, and their influence on car travel ways.

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This can improve the lifestyle of many around all while trying to reduce the cost of living within these nodes. Being able to access amenities that are necessary for day to day life without the car is something that these communities already know about. By improving these connections and making them safer for all to use, this type of development can promote healthy lifestyles for adults going to work or getting groceries and can certainly improve childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; access to education of all types.

On a local scale as it pertains to Jackson Park and Development, this can impact many community resources. Jackson Elementaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s close proximity is an apparent opportunity that is embraced by proper access to the NE corner of the park. Their lack of programmatic elements in the school yard provides the opportunity to not only give these children the proper recreation fields so that they can learn new sports and promote daily exercise. Within the park itself there will be a native materials playground that can be used by the public but also by the school itself because of its close proximity on site. Along with these recreational opportunities there are many ways that children in this school and any other visitors can learn about the watershed that they live in. Throughout the site there will be nodes that will be identified as points along the native path of stormwater on site. At the culmination of this path you will find the Harrison Creek reversion that has been created to not only improve water quality before it reaches the Wolf River, but also to reproduce a healthy creek system within the park itself. By also showing the proper way that vegetated areas can be flooded with vegetation other than turf grass, promoting biodiversity in the water source.

This lowland area is educational opportunity as much as it is an amenity. Like the entirety of this development, this is an effort to provide an education or standard to a community of need, while providing this site with the proper tools to give back to its watershed.

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Top- Commercial Pedestrian Thoroughfare Bottom- Ridge Seating Detail

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Top- Typical Parking Left- Ridge Seating Detail Right- Native Grass Root Benefits

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Neighborhood Entrance

Play Pod

Large Retention Area

Small Retention Area

Multiuse Field

Harrison Creek

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NEIGHBORHOOD PARK NATHAN LOCKE

PROJECT NARRATIVE:

Che nue Ave lsea Parking Lot

The Wolf River is the main drainage canal for the Memphis metropolitan area which has a major flooding problem, this problem is caused by the channeling of the rivers tributaries up stream. Our class goal is to focus on sites along Harrison creek, a tributary of the wolf river, to retrofit them to improve the community by providing new amenities and benefits for the residents living near the creek.

The site I am focusing on is a 3.6 acre lot located in northern Memphis with Harrison Creek running along its eastern border with neighborhoods surrounding it. The existing use is a play field with a parking area in disrepair.

There is an outflow pipe on the west side of the site that flows in a swale to the east side of the site and into Harrison creek. There is also a vacant lot on the west side of the site that can be used as a second access point for residents in the neighborhood. The existing swale is better than a pipe running directly into Harrison creek but the water coming out of it needs to be temporarily retained on site to help prevent flooding down stream. There can also be an addition of another element for children to play and allow for more than just one use for the site. There is no circulation on site which prevents the use of the entire site.

The site will consists of parking, a multiuse play field, a pod with play equipment, and a series of retention areas for stormwater management. The parking lot is at the entrance and the stormwater is collected into a swale and conveyed to the other side of the play fields. The play fields will have multiple uses, from scheduled activates by the adjacent school or non-programmed play by neighborhood kids. The play pod will be partially screened from the play field by earth mounds planted with native grasses and trees. The play pod has one continuous net structure running through it that will undulate allowing for a variety of play types.

Adjacent to the play pod is the largest retention area with a series of weirs to control the flow of water. The soil that is removed from the retention area will be used as the earth mounds in the pods and will be replaced by engineered soils that permeate water better than the native soils. The main purposes of the retention areas are to collect and temporarily store the stormwater from surrounding properties, day lighting out of a pipe on the west side of the site, which slows the water down to allow it to permeate into the soils and be cleaned.

The design creates a multiuse space that allows the elementary school adjacent to the site to use the field but it also allows residents to use the site for exercise and a play space for kids. The drainage has been improved to allow the stormwater to be retained temporarily and cleaned managing the quantity and quality of the water before entering Harrison Creek and the Wolf River.

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Top: Image shows the play pod and the tensile net structure with the smaller retention area. Inside the retention area is a art piece to draw people across the multiuse field and deeper into the site. Bottom: Image is looking across the large retention area towards the play pod.

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Left: Areal view of small retention area and play pod. The path to the right of the image runs around the site and creates a .2 mile loop. Right: Areal view across the large retention area to the play pod.

Left: View of Multiuse Field and small retention area. The art piece is located on the left side of the small retention area.

Right: Eye level view of west entrance to the play pod. The play structure has netting for kids to climb on and has swings under it.

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KINGSBURY ELEMENTARY

MICHAEL RICHMOND

PROJECT NARRATIVE:

Kingsbury Elementary is located on the outskirts of Memphis, TN. Kingsbury is adjacent to Harrison Creek, which is a large drainage way that leads into the Wolf River. Harrison Creek is in need of restoration, essentially the water is only managed for quantity and not quality. There is high potential for the restoration of Harrison Creek by managing stormwater pollutants on sites along the creek before it ultimately drains into the Wolf River. With this in mind Kingsbury is an outstanding opportunity to educate the community on practicing stormwater management in an effective and functional manner.

The overall design intention is to implement stormwater better management practices while creating a healthy learning environment for Kingsbury Elementary. While the mission of Kingsbury is â&#x20AC;&#x153;to work together with families and community members to prepare each student to become responsible and successful citizens by providing a safe and challenging learning environment that fosters academic, emotional, social, and physical growthâ&#x20AC;?. Students develop athletic potential through programmed and spontaneous sports. Creativity and self-expression are crucial to the development of a child in elementary school.

The proposed design provides Kingsbury students with two primary assets, upgraded classrooms and recreational opportunities and enhanced natural areas with sustainable stormwater management. Through basic changes to the circulation patterns and site grading the proposed design reclaims several underutilized spaces. This method maximizes the amount of usable space, improves the spatial organization and allows stormwater runoff to be managed more effectively. With Kingsbury having the potential to grow and currently having temporary classrooms a new educational facility has been proposed on the Southside of the site. The potential for athletic activities has been increased with playground renovations, new multi-purpose turf field, and a jogging track that is integrated throughout the site. There are three outdoor classrooms on site, one large amphitheater style class room is located adjacent to the west building, two medium sized gathering areas are located on a meandering path on the east side of the site. The meandering path flows along with the form of the bioswale that collects and treats runoff from the roofs and leads into a large rain garden style area. A bioswale from the south parking lot runoff leads into this rain garden area as well.

As seen in the redevelopment of Kingsbury Elementary, stormwater management through community development will be how we begin to revitalize our creeks, streams, and rivers. Designing for stormwater management can become integrated within education, recreation, relaxation, and the overall development of a community.

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ABOVE- A JOGGING TRAIL THAT LEADS AROUND THE RECREATION AREA AND THROUGH EXISTING CANOPY TREES INTO THE PLAYGROUND.

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A SMALL RECREATIONAL FIELD HAS REPLACED AN EMPTY AND UNUSED PART OF CAMPUS THAT NOW WILL PROVIDE SPACE FOR SPORTS AND THIS PLAYGROUND HAS BEEN REVITALIZED AND GIVEN A STRONG FORM WITH BERMS TO SIT AND PLENTY OF SPACE TO PLAY AND CLIMB.

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ABOVE- SMALL OUTDOOR CLASS ROOM LOCATED BETWEEN THE BIOSWALE AND HARRISON CREEK. THE USE OF OUTDOOR CLASSROOMS CREATE A DESIREABLE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILDREN. THE INTERACTION WITH NATURAL ELEMENTS DURING EDUCATIONAL HOURS PROVIDES STUDENTS A RELIEF FROM THE TYPICAL CLASSROOM SETTING.

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ABOVE- NEW PLAYGROUND PROVIDES AN ADVENTURE THROUGH A ROCK WALL, BALL PIT, SWINGS, SLIDES AND THE CREATIVITY OF THE CHILDREN. THE OVERHEAD SHADE STRUCTURE IN THE TOP LEFT PROVIDES TEACHERS A DESIREABLE AREA TO REALAX WHILE WATCHING FOR THE CHILDRENS SAFETY ON THE PLAYGROUND.

ABOVE- STORMWATER COLLECTION SYSTEM USING GUTTERS AND CORTEN STEEL TO CASCADE WATER INTO A PLANTED BASIN WHICH OVERFLOWS INTO THE VEGETATED BIOSWALE.

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MASTER PLAN

A1

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EXISTING CREEK

SCULPTURAL WALL CREEK ACCESS

OVERLOOK

SEATING WALLS

SEATING AREA

PAVILLION

OPEN SOCIAL SPACE

GRA

SECTION A1

Located here is the Master Plan design solution to connect Gaisman Park and Harrison Creek together. This project takes a portion of Harrison Creeks 6’ retaining wall and creates a series of terraces designed to reconnect the community with their watershed. Here people can enjoy a space that combines both park amenities and stormwater solutions.

Gaisman Park

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Grass Mound

Walkway

Terrace Level 4.5’

Terrace Level 3’

Open Social Space

Terrace level 1.5’

Terrace level .5’

A CREEK FOR THE PEOPLE

KENNY JONES

PROJECT NARRATIVE:

Placed along the south side of Macon Road is a green space known as Gaisman Park. Sitting in an established neighborhood the park consists of mature trees, play areas, and a vast open space. Sitting adjacent to the park lays a monstrosity of concrete formed into a water channel known as Harrison Creek.

Here one will find a chain-link fence running the entire length of the creek, large discolored concrete retaining walls lining the sides, and a sloping concrete slab forming the floor. Within this creek, vegetation sprouts through the cracks, garbage is strewn about and polluted water flows down the center of the swale. So, by focusing on these unattractive qualities, its high volumes of polluted water and most importantly its lack of human interaction a series of concepts were designed to significantly alter the creek. Here ideas were developed to combat all these problems but specifically focus on interaction with people.

N SCALE: 1” = 30’

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PARKING

ASS MOUND

Low Flow Channel

BRIDGE OVERLOOK

Residential Neighborhood

SCALE: 1” = 30’ 0’

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To create a connection between humans and nature, the overall idea is to remove a portion of the concrete channel and replace it with a series of terraces.

By creating the terraces is undulating organic forms; viewers will be able to see these unique forms become defined as the water levels rise and fall according to the intensity of rain event. To make the space more interesting a series of ramps and steps were added on the 3rd and 4th level to provide access to the system and allow interaction with people. Within these levels the viewer can observe most all of the system and see the different textures and forms confined to each level. By providing access here the viewers can then immerse themselves within the system and understand the depth and width of each terrace needed to allow for large rain events. Once the rain event occurs, they can then come back to the site and use the overlook to observe where they previously stood before is now completely submerged in water. This is a crucial part of the design that is used to help the viewer understand just how much the water fluctuates after rain events occur. For the more adventurous people, once the water levels have receded a series of gabion walls and steps can be used to access the lower terraces for people to explore. This area consists mostly of riprap and a unique selection of plant material that help to slow and clean the water as it moves through. In order to prevent sedimentation from continuing downstream a cutback was designed on the first terrace to allow sediment to build over time allowing the water to sculpt its form and create a natural berm. One of the most unique components of this design is the sculptural wall installed on the residential side of the creek. This wall is made of corten steel with interesting forms protruding out of the concrete wall creating focal points for viewers to observe during the day and allowing lights to shine through at night casting shadows onto the landscape. Moving back to the top of the site there are two main entry points one from the south end and one from the north. Starting with the south end lays a three-foot berm that engulfs the surroundings of the system. This is used to provide a barricade incase of major flooding and an interesting area for children to play. As people enter through the south gate they will be greeted by the berm and have access through a cut that ushers them in and allows them to either move into the first terraced level by large steps or walk and observe from

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Section a2

Terrace Level 1.5’

EXISTING CREEK

Terrace Level 3’

SCULPTURAL WALL CREEK ACCESS

Gaisman Park

Provide above are two proposed sections of the design. The top section represents the two lower levels of the design and how people can interact with the creek and system surrounding it. The bottom section shows how all terraces would work and how people may use them.

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Terrace Level 1.5’

SEATING WALLS

SEATING AREA

Grass Mound

Walkway

OPEN SO SPAC

Terrace Level 4.5’

Terrace Level 3’

atop of the system. The North entry is somewhat different; it is made of several merging sidewalks and an overhead structure that looks out over the park. Here the viewer can observe park users by utilizing the overhead structure, move further in by walking to the observation deck, or enter the system with the ramp provided.

So, by utilizing this site as an opportunity to educate people and create an interesting space, the system will provide a solution to the stormwater problem, allow people to connect with the environment, and impact the community in a positive way.

Terrace Level .5’

Low Flow Channel

Scale: 1” = 10’ 0’OVERLOOK

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PAVILLION

OCIAL CE

PARKING

20’ GRASS MOUND

BRIDGE OVERLOOK

SECTION A1

Open Social Space

Terrace level 1.5’

Terrace level .5’

Low Flow Channel

Residential Neighborhood

SCALE: 1” = 30’ 0’

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90’

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This perspective shows the South entry of the site and the seating area to the left. As you can see here there is a large sculptural mound lining the back and terraces tappering down to the creek where the corten sculptural wall is presented to viewers from the entire site.

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This perspective shows an aerial view of the parking lot entering from Macon Road. Moving into the site the viewer will see the pavillion located on the upper left corner and then make their way to the overlook to observe the site. If the viewer wants to engage the system they can then come down into the third terrace level where open lawn space and seating walls are provided.

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Shown Here is a conceptual model of my design. By shredding the existing retaining wall located in Harrison creek a series of terraces (different color of string) were created to connect the park and creek together and introduce a social place for people to use.

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Low FLow ChanneL

6” event

1’6” event

3’ event

4’6” -6’ event

Above I’ve created a series of diagrams that portray the water levels as they flow into each terraced level. This is used to show the viewer the differnt forms of the land and to show them the mass amounts of water that are present during rain events.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Landscape Design Studio 5 and Department of Landscape Architecture at Mississippi State University would like to thank those that contributed their time and resources to this study. Specifically, the group would like to thank DT Design Studio, the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Sustainability, and Shelby County ReGIS for their time and contributions.

Design Team: Travis Crabtree Kenny Jones Nathan Locke Forrest Merrill Tyrell Miller Michael Richmond Andrew Tarsi Faculty: Peter Summerlin, ASLA, LEED AP assistant professor | department of landscape architecture mississippi state university o 662.325.2668 | m 601.260.5200 www.lalc.msstate.edu | msulalc.blogspot.com