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Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority Honored by American Water Resources Association

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James Tomaine accepts an award for Integrated Water Resources Management at the American Water Resources Association national conference, November 2022Congratulations to the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority (WVSA), who received an award this week from the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) for Integrated Water Resources Management.  The authority’s executive director Jim Tomaine accepted the award at a luncheon during AWRA’s national conference in Seattle.

The Integrated Water Resources Management Award honors exemplary teamwork on a complex water resource challenge.  WVSA received the award for their work creating a regional stormwater authority to help communities in Luzerne County reduce watershed pollution and comply with MS4 requirements. The project is noteworthy because it was the first regional stormwater authority in Pennsylvania, and it blazed a trail for others to pursue regional stormwater solutions. WVSA partners with more than 30 municipalities in Luzerne County on a joint Pollutant Reduction Plan and BMPs.  Working together, they are able to address pollution on the watershed scale, producing better results than small, uncoordinated projects could.  They are also able to achieve economies of scale that reduce the overall cost burden on individual communities.  The collaboration does not end there, however.  WVSA and its member municipalities work with Luzerne County and its flood protection authority on stream restoration and partner with private landowners, who install BMPs on their property in exchange for reduced stormwater fees.

HRG helped WVSA develop and implement this innovative program, and we are proud to have worked with their passionate and visionary leaders:  Jim Tomaine, Jeff Colella, Sandy Bartosiewics, Sam Guesto, Gerry Cross, and the entire WVSA board. This program also received the Governor’s Award for Local Government Excellence in 2018.

Erin Letavic Recognized by Central Penn Business Journal as a Woman of Influence

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Central Penn Business Journal  recognized Erin Letavic, a senior project manager at Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc., as a 2022 Women of Influence honoree at a celebration at the Harrisburg Hilton on June 30. Erin is also profiled alongside other honorees in the publication’s June 24 issue.

Erin Letavic receives a plaque recognizing her as a Woman of Influence

Erin Letavic receives her Women of Influence recognition from Ernest Long, Central Penn Business Journal editor, and Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, senior group publisher for Bridgetower Media. (Photo by Markell DeLoatch for Bridgetower Media)

Women of Influence honors high-achieving women for their career accomplishments. They are selected based on their professional experience, community involvement, leadership and a commitment to mentoring.

Letavic is an accomplished civil engineer focused on water quality.  She was recently appointed by Governor Wolf to represent Pennsylvania on the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Science & Technical Advisory Committee, which offers technical guidance on policy and resources and facilitates cooperation between research institutions and agencies within the watershed.

She also serves as coordinator for more than a third of the counties participating in the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Countywide Action Program.  In this role, she brings together a diverse coalition of stakeholders – from agriculture, industry, education, local government, and environmental non-profits – to meet Chesapeake Bay nutrient and sediment reduction goals.

 

Jason Hinz, a group manager at Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc., says, “Erin is a creative thinker who inspires people to push boundaries to achieve big goals. She has a quiet, approachable leadership style that gives team members a sense of calm confidence in the path ahead, and I can’t think of anyone who deserves this recognition as a Woman of Influence more than she does.”

Jordan Baker, Jason Hinz, and Ed Ellinger celebrate with Erin Letavic and her husband at the Women of Influence ceremony

Jordan Baker, Jason Hinz, Ed Ellinger, Erin Letavic, and Steve Letavic have dinner together at the Women of Influence ceremony.

About Central Penn Business Journal

Celebrating 37 years of journalistic excellence, Central Penn Business Journal is a multimedia news source that publishes a regular print and online edition and breaks news daily on its website, CPBJ.com. In addition, Central Penn Business Journal publishes special focus sections and products throughout the year including Reader Rankings, Fastest Growing Companies and Best Places to Work in PA. Central Penn Business Journal also honors leading Pennsylvanians through nine annual awards events including Health Care Heroes, Women of Influence, Forty Under 40 and Game Changers and facilitates thoughtful discussion with market leaders through its webinar series. Its Digital Marketing Solutions helps customers with social media, search engine marketing and optimization, retargeting, email marketing and more. Central Penn Business Journal is part of BridgeTower Media, one of the country’s leading business-to-business media companies with more than 40 print and digital publications in more than 25 U.S. markets.

 

About Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc.

Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) is an employee-owned, nationally ranked design firm providing civil engineering, surveying, and environmental services. The firm was founded in Harrisburg in 1962 and has offices in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. More information is available at their website www.hrg-inc.com

WEBINAR: How to Cut Stormwater Costs with Partnerships & Collaboration

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Communities report increased flooding in recent years – even outside the flood zone.
Aging infrastructure is at or near the end of its useful life, and signs of failure are appearing.
Regulatory agencies are requiring communities to do more to manage stormwater, but additional funding is not being provided.

These are big problems, and most communities can’t solve them alone. Collaboration is the key to keeping the cost of stormwater improvements manageable, and this webinar will show you how to make collaboration work for your community.

Our financial services practice area leader Adrienne Vicari joined Jim Cosgrove of Kleinfelder, Inc. and the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters to discuss the benefits of collaboration and offer tips communities can use to form effective partnerships. She identifies specific entities for partnership (including other municipalities, state and federal agencies, property owners, and a variety of non-profit organizations) and shows real world examples of how partnerships are saving municipalities millions of dollars on stormwater management and MS4 compliance.

Watch this free webinar below and contact Adrienne Vicari to discuss partnership opportunities for your community.

 

Michael Hess Joins HRG as Senior Project Manager

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Mike Hess, P.E.Michael Hess has joined Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) as a senior project manager in the firm’s civil group. He will be responsible for providing municipal engineering services to clients throughout Central Pennsylvania and managing complex water quality projects.

Mr. Hess is a licensed professional engineer with broad-ranging experience serving both the public sector and the private sector. He has assisted residential and commercial developers with site design and permitting, and he has assisted municipalities with stormwater management, water quality, transportation infrastructure, plan reviews, and regulatory compliance.  He has also managed multi-disciplinary projects for government agency clients at both the federal and state level.

HRG assistant vice president Ed Ellinger is glad to welcome Hess back to the HRG team: “Mike worked with us early in his career, and we are so happy to have him back representing our clients. They will benefit greatly from his diverse skill set in all aspects of municipal engineering, particularly stormwater management, which is an increasingly important issue to local communities these days.”

 

ABOUT HRG

Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) is an employee-owned, nationally ranked design firm providing civil engineering, surveying, and environmental services. The firm was founded in Harrisburg in 1962 and has offices in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. For more information, please visit our website at www.hrg-inc.com.

 

 

Porous Pavement in Parking Lot Helps Township Meet MS4 Requirements

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It’s National Water Quality Month, and we’re sharing projects we’ve designed that help improve water quality in the communities we serve. Today, we’re profiling the West Caracas Avenue parking lot in Derry Township.

This 40,000 square foot parking lot includes 11,500 square feet of porous asphalt, which reduces the volume of stormwater runoff, prevents pollutants from entering the watershed, and promotes groundwater recharge.

 

What is porous pavement?

Porous pavement (a.k.a. pervious pavement) comes in many forms: concrete, asphalt, paver blocks, reinforced turf, recycled glass, and more. Traditional asphalt and concrete is densely packed with fine materials, but porous pavement uses coarser materials and a higher percentage of air voids in between these materials.  A clean stone bed consisting of 1 inch to 3 inch stone with a high void ratio is installed below the porous surface to provide temporary runoff storage and allow for infiltration.

Porous Pavement Cross Section

The space in between the coarser material provides a place for water to seep through to the soil underneath.

 

What are the advantages of porous pavement?

It can trap solids and pollutants that otherwise would’ve been carried to lakes and streams by stormwater collected in inlets.  These pollutants seep through the pavement into a bed of rocks below, where they undergo the natural cleansing process that has purified our stormwater for hundreds of years before asphalt and concrete were invented.

It reduces stormwater runoff, thereby reducing the need for stormwater detention basins and stormwater infrastructure. Porous pavement allows the rain water to infiltrate the ground; therefore, it reduces the volume of stormwater runoff.  This can reduce the number of inlets and storm pipes a client needs to be build (and reduce construction cost associated with that infrastructure).

See water infiltrate the porous pavement parking stalls almost immediately, while water collects on the conventional pavement outside the stall.

 

It can reduce flooding risks.  Heavy rains can be absorbed into the ground instead of overloading inlets and detention basins.

It recharges the groundwater. Rain is absorbed back into the water supply, rather than being collected, stored and released from a detention basin.

It reduces the heat island effect of paved surfaces because air can circulate better through this material.

It reduces winter maintenance since the stone bed below the porous pavement tends to absorb and retain heat allowing snow to melt faster.  So typically light snow and ice accumulation are handled with little to no maintenance.

 

What should you consider before investing in porous pavement?

It is coarser than traditional paving materials, but it is still fine enough to meet ADA standards and most people cannot tell the difference in appearance.

It must be carefully designed by engineers to work properly.  The designer needs to know how quickly the soil beneath the pavement can absorb water (some soils absorb more quickly than others) and design the paving surface and stone bed accordingly. Otherwise, water can build up underneath the surface and can cause damage or surface flooding.  Also, porous pavement is ideally suited for flatter surfaces to promote stormwater absorption and minimize the stone bed depth.  On steeper surfaces benching or terracing of the stone bed is needed to maintain a reasonable stone bed depth and minimize excavation.

Maintenance requirements are different than they are for traditional pavement, depending on the material chosen.  Certain materials require frequent vacuuming to prevent the voids or “pores” from being clogged. Sand or cinders should not be applied on or adjacent to porous pavement. More advanced materials – like elastomerically bound glass – have reduced maintenance needs.

Its strength rating is lower than traditional paving materials due to the increased air content.  Therefore, it is not recommended for surfaces that will see heavy volumes of traffic or loading areas that will be frequented by large trucks.  However, as the popularity of porous pavement continues to grow, many paving companies are developing higher strength materials.

 

What are the best uses for porous pavement?

Due to the lower strength of porous paving materials, it is best used for low-volume applications like:

  • Parking spaces
  • Residential alleys/roads
  • Residential driveways
  • Sidewalks and Walking paths
  • Tennis Courts

Derry Township chose to pursue porous pavement in the West Caracas Avenue parking lot to meet the requirements of its MS4 stormwater management program and reduce the possibility of flooding.  The porous pavement and vegetative islands in the lot are designed to completely infiltrate the runoff from a 100-year storm event and reduce the amount of sediment, nitrogen and phosphorous entering the watershed.  This helps the township meet its Chesapeake Bay pollutant reduction plan goals.

Informational signage educates the public about the various Best Management Practices (BMPs) used in the lot and the benefits of infiltration to water quality.  This helps the township meets the MCM #1 (public education) goal of its MS4 permit.

Stormwater BMP educational signage in West Caracas Avenue Parking Lot

DEP awarded the township a $200,000 Local Stormwater BMP Implementation Grant, which covered almost half of the project cost.

HRG’s financial services team has helped our clients receive close to $2 billion in funding for their infrastructure projects, and we can help you, too.  Contact a member of our financial services team to discuss grant and low-interest loan opportunities for your community.

But the new parking lot provides other benefits to the community besides improved water quality.  It also accommodates more cars and has better access from local streets, too.  This is important because it’s located in a busy section of downtown Hershey, where it serves visitors to the local restaurants, the Hershey Story museum, the Hershey Theater, and many local shops.  It also accommodates Life on Chocolate events in ChocolateTown Square.

The West Caracas Avenue parking lot project shows that development and environmental benefits can peacefully coexist and be affordable for communities at the same time.  Municipalities don’t have to choose between protecting water quality and promoting economic development; they just have to invest wisely.

HRG has a diverse team of experts in stormwater management, community planning, and municipal engineering. Contact a member of our team to discuss how to cost-effectively manage stormwater and promote development in your community.

Reduce the Cost of MS4 Compliance and Pollutant Reduction Plans Through Cooperation

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Jim Tomaine speaks about the cooperative MS4 efforts in Luzerne County

Stormwater management has become a major priority for environmental agencies over the past decade, and communities are struggling to meet the increasing requirements to reduce stormwater pollutants and runoff volume. The cost is simply too high for many municipalities to bear alone, but it becomes much more manageable if municipalities can share the burden with their neighbors.

Take the Pollutant Reduction Plan requirement of the MS4 application as an example. If a municipality submits a Pollutant Reduction Plan on its own, it is limited to constructing BMPs within its own borders or the drainage way of its impaired streams, but DEP will generally accept the construction of BMPs anywhere within the watershed for an MS4 permit that is submitted by a regional cooperative. This means cooperating municipalities can install BMPs that yield the greatest pollutant load reduction for the lowest cost.

Usually the largest expense associated with BMP construction is the cost of acquiring land on which to build the BMP. An individual municipality may not have much land on which to build, particularly if it is an urban municipality in which most of the available land has already been developed. As a result, the municipality may be forced to implement a large number of BMPs that each provide only marginal individual benefit in order to meet the pollutant reduction goal. If a municipality submits a regional plan with other communities in the same watershed, it will have access to a much greater land area on which to build BMPs and a reduced need for right-of-way acquisition and easements.  This allows the participating municipalities to build the most effective water quality measures in the places with the greatest need.

Any improvements in upstream water quality will lead to improvements in downstream water quality, so a municipality can still see improvements in its water quality using a watershed-based approach even if a particular BMP is not located within that municipality’s borders.

When BMPs are constructed on a watershed-wide basis, the construction cost is typically lower due to economies of scale, and the water quality results are better.

Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) is working with the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority on a regional stormwater collaboration that includes 32 municipalities in Luzerne County. These municipalities intend to meet 70% of their sediment reduction goal with a single BMP: conversion of existing flood control levees into a constructed wetland with a sediment forebay and a meandering stream channel.

Toby Creek ImpoundmentLearn more about our work with the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority in this 3-part series published in The Authority, a magazine published by the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association.

Regional cooperation can save municipalities money in other ways besides BMP construction. For example, the cost of preparing the Pollutant Reduction Plan itself will be much lower as a result of cooperation due to economies of scale.

Hiring a consultant to assist with pollutant reduction planning can cost thousands of dollars. If that cost is shared with 10 other municipalities, each individual municipality only has to pay a small portion.

It’s like sharing your first apartment with two roommates when you were in your 20s. The fixed cost of rent and utilities is the same whether one person lives there or three, but each person pays less if they can split that cost three ways (instead of renting their own individual apartments).

Stormwater management involves many fixed costs like the cost of owning equipment to clean out inlets or conduct outfall inspections.

Spreading those costs across a greater number of users means each user pays a smaller price for service.

Another way cooperation can reduce the cost of stormwater management is by giving municipalities increased purchasing power.  Generally, you can negotiate lower unit costs for items when you buy them in larger quantities.  For example, cooperating municipalities could replace or slip line several miles of pipe for a lower cost if the work was completed as part of a larger, regional project. These savings apply to the bidding of services, too. The municipalities working with the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority saved hundreds of thousands of dollars on base mapping (i.e. orthophotography, impervious area, etc.)  by participating with WVSA under a single project (rather than having each municipality bid its own contract).

 

Municipalities have greater purchasing power when they cooperate on stormwater management solutions. For example, cooperating municipalities could slip line several miles of pipe for a lower cost if the work was completed as part of a larger, regional project.

 

A regional cooperative also has more borrowing power than a single municipality, and funding agencies are more likely to award a grant or loan to a regional project than one submitted by a single municipality. Funding agencies prefer regional projects because they believe regional cooperation streamlines costs, and politicians tend to support projects that benefit as large a constituent base as possible. A regional initiative should be tied together by legal agreements that assure the funding agency all funding will be properly administered. (These legal agreements are also required to meet DEP requirements for submission of a regional pollution reduction plan.)

This post is an excerpt from a longer article in the July-August-September issue of Keystone Water Quality Manager magazine. The article is focused on the cost savings communities enjoy by cooperating with regional partners on their stormwater management programs.  Read the magazine for advice on finding partners for your stormwater management program or contact us to request a copy.

Green infrastructure: bioswale in Frick ParkAnother way to cut the cost of stormwater management is to put BMPs in parks and recreational facilities. This eliminates the most expensive part of construction –land acquisition — by making use of land the municipality already owns. Learn more in our 3-part series on building green infrastructure in parks and recreational facilities.

 

Erin Letavic

Erin G. Letavic, P.E., is the regional manager of civil engineering services in HRG’s Harrisburg office. She guides municipalities and cooperative groups throughout Pennsylvania through the management of their MS4 permits, provides grant application development and administration services, and provides retained engineering services to local government.

Adrienne M. Vicari

Adrienne Vicari, P.E. is the financial services practice area leader at Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG). She provides strategic financial planning and grant administration services to numerous municipal and municipal authority clients. She also serves as project manager for several projects involving the creation of stormwater authorities or the addition of stormwater to the charter of existing authorities throughout Pennsylvania.

How to Incorporate Green Infrastructure into Parks in order to Save Money Meeting Regulatory Requirements

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This article is the third in a series on incorporating green infrastructure into parks and recreational space in order to more cost-effectively meet environmental regulatory requirements. (Part 1 explained why parks are an ideal location for green infrastructure projects to meet regulatory requirements, and Part 2 explained the benefits of incorporating green infrastructure into parks.)

In this article, we provide advice on how communities can identify areas in their park and recreational spaces that are good candidates for green infrastructure and how to work with other groups to get these projects implemented. This article is an excerpt from an article we published in the April 2018 issue of Borough News magazine entitled “Parks Provide the Ideal Location for Meeting Environmental Regulatory Requirements.”

How can municipalities incorporate green infrastructure into their park facilities?

Start by taking an inventory of your facilities and look for places where green infrastructure could be used.

Pay close attention to your hard surface areas. These are the areas that generate the most runoff, so look for ways to reduce the amount of hard surface area or lessen its impact by directing runoff to pervious areas.

Look at your parking lots: How does stormwater flow across the lot? Are there landscaped areas or medians where you could incorporate bioretention facilities?  Are there places where you could plant additional trees? Perhaps you could use permeable pavement in the parking stalls.

Watch this video to see a demonstration of how quickly permeable pavement in these municipal parking stalls absorbs a few buckets of water compared to the non-permeable pavement outside the parking stalls.

Do you have paved trails and walkways in your park system? Consider permeable pavement or a tree canopy that runs alongside the path. Because of their linear nature, bioswales can be planted alongside trails or paved paths, too. The following video shows how a system of bioswales along the bike trail in Indianapolis absorbs water during a rain event.

The Magnificent Bioswales & Stormwater Treatment Along the Indy Cultural Trail from STREETFILMS on Vimeo.

Could your athletic fields be used for a dry extended detention basin?

Do you have open space within existing drainage areas that could be used for constructed wetlands?

Do you have a community center?  This would be a great location for a demonstration rain garden, rainwater harvesting system, or planter boxes.  It could even be a candidate for a green roof.

Middletown Borough reduced the volume of stormwater entering their stormwater system by converting the traditional garden located between their municipal building and parking lot to a rain garden. By redirecting the building downspout to the rain garden, the stormwater that previously flowed across the parking lot is now infiltrated on site.

rain garden behind Middletown Borough building

Check out this article in the Middletown Press and Journal about Middletown’s rain garden.

Successfully integrating green infrastructure into your park facilities is a team effort. Municipal administration, public works staff, planners, and the parks and recreation department should all work together to find cost-effective solutions that maximize benefits for the community.

But the teamwork shouldn’t end inside the government offices. Schools, conservation groups, gardening clubs, and other community groups may also want to lend a hand.  Bringing them on board marshals additional resources for the cause and helps to build public support for the efforts.

Your municipal engineer can provide valuable guidance on design, regulatory requirements and even potential funding sources.

Municipal staff must be creative stewards of both the environment and the taxpayers’ money. Incorporating green infrastructure and streambank restoration projects into park and recreational facilities helps them do both. By using land the municipality already owns, communities can greatly reduce the cost of construction projects needed to comply with environmental regulation like the MS4 program.  The native plantings used in rain gardens and bioswales typically need less maintenance and chemicals than turf grass, and rainwater collected in barrels can be used for irrigation or toilet flushing in order to lower water consumption costs.

At the same time, these projects prevent pollutants in stormwater runoff from reaching our lakes and streams, preserving them for recreational uses like fishing and swimming. They also help to prevent flooding, which ensures the parks department will be able to keep athletic fields and parks open for scheduled activities after a storm.

In these ways, green infrastructure can enhance the recreational experience for the user. It can also enhance the aesthetic appeal: Rain gardens and native vegetation can provide a habitat for wildlife and butterflies for safe public viewing and can serve as a quiet retreat for reflection.

Signage turns these features into an educational experience and helps to meet the educational outreach requirements of a community’s MS4 permit.

Working together as a team, municipal officials, planners, park professionals, and local community groups can protect our resources while providing exceptional recreational experiences for all.

Ben Gilberti, P.E., manages civil engineering services provided by Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) throughout Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. He assists with the design of municipal infrastructure like sidewalks, stormwater systems, and sewer facilities.

James A. FeathJames Feath, R.L.A., is a senior landscape architect at HRG. He has 20 years of experience in the planning and design of public spaces, including parks, trails, and recreational facilities.

Benefits of Installing Green Infrastructure in Parks for MS4 Compliance

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Last week, we shared how parks and recreational space can be the ideal location for green infrastructure and streambank stabilization projects that help you meet your MS4 compliance and pollutant reduction plan goals.  This week we discuss the benefits of this approach in another excerpt from an article we published in the April 2018 issue of Borough News magazine.

As we stated last week, the latest round of MS4 permitting requires many municipalities to implement a pollutant reduction plan that reduces the level of pollutants in their stormwater by as much as 10%. This will likely involve the construction of Best Management Practices (BMPs) like rain gardens or streambank stabilization projects, and the most expensive part of BMP construction is often acquiring the land on which to build.  This is why parks and recreational space can be an ideal location for BMPs because it’s land you already own; there are no land acquisition costs.

Middletown Borough is proposing to meet the majority of its MS4 pollutant reduction plan goal with the installation of a bioretention basin along the east side of Hoffer Park. This basin will be created by excavating an existing corrugated metal stormwater pipe and backfilling the trench with layers of bioretention bed components like engineered media, topsoil and mulch.  Water-tolerant native plantings will then be planted there.

Wilkins Township in Allegheny County is also proposing improvements to one of its municipal parks as part of it MS4 pollutant reduction plan. The township is upgrading Lions Park to include ADA accessible routes, a paved walking trail, playground, deck hockey and pavilion.  Many green infrastructure elements are being incorporated into the park design in order to manage stormwater on-site. For example, soil in all open spaces will be amended to enhance its structure and ability to promote infiltration.  A rain garden will be planted along with vegetated channels and a vegetated filter strip, as well.

Green infrastructure can save money in other ways, too.

  • Funding agencies often prefer projects that provide multiple benefits, so municipalities may be able to increase the opportunity for grant money by combining recreational and environmental goals into the same park improvement project. As part of the grant requirement for funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Lower Swatara Township integrated water quality BMPs into the rehabilitation plan for the playground at two of their community parks. The runoff from the playground area will be conveyed into rain gardens adjacent to the new playground and will be treated on site. The walkways from the parking area to the new playground will be porous asphalt to minimize the amount of runoff. Additionally, educational signage will be installed to educate playground visitors on the environmental and water quality benefits provided by the rain gardens.
  • Captured rainwater can be used for irrigation or toilet flushing, thereby reducing potable water consumption.
By SuSanA Secretariat [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsGreen infrastructure: rainwater harvesting tank

A rainwater harvesting system

But the benefits of incorporating green infrastructure into your park facilities go beyond saving money:

 Green infrastructure can improve the recreation experience for park users.

  • Natural vegetation can provide a habitat for wildlife and offer the opportunity for wildlife viewing.
  •  Vegetation can also reduce noise and provide visual barriers to set off private areas for picnics or meditation.
  •  Green infrastructure helps to ensure adequate flows in ponds and streams , so that park users can enjoy them.
Photo by ChattocaneeNF. Used under a Creative Commons license.Photo by ChattocaneeNF. Used under a Creative Commons license.
  • It is generally more attractive than large swaths of concrete piping and basins.
  • It improves drainage, which means park facilities are less likely to flood (and less subject to closure or cancellation of activities after a storm). North Middletown Township has proposed a bioretention basin in Village Park as part of its Chesapeake Bay pollutant reduction plan, but an added benefit of the basin is that it will help to prevent the frequent flooding of a playground within the park during heavy rain events.

Green infrastructure can reduce maintenance.

  • Standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitos, so maintenance personnel must be vigilant to prevent it. Improving drainage will reduce the effort needed to eliminate standing water.
  • Turf grass can be high maintenance. Rain gardens and bioswales can be populated with native vegetation that requires less watering, no chemicals, and less mowing or weeding.

Native vegetation requires less maintenace than turf grass

  • Vegetation along streambanks can slow or even absorb runoff before it reaches the stream, thereby reducing erosion. The vegetative root structures hold sediment in place to further reduce streambank erosion.

Installing green infrastructure in parks provides an opportunity to educate the public and encourage good habits.

  • Signs explaining how green infrastructure works can be used to meet MS4 education requirements under Minimum Control Measure #1. Cranberry Township, Butler County, is including signage about the bioswales they’re installing in Graham Park for this very reason. Schools and community groups can visit the site and learn how stormwater is managed. Park visitors can read the signs and may even be inspired to install green infrastructure on their own property. This extends the environmental benefits even further. The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority has pioneered an innovative regional partnership among more than 30 municipalities to cooperate on stormwater management and MS4 compliance. Their plan includes the creation of stormwater parks that will combine green infrastructure with signage to educate the public. (You can read more about WVSA’s award-winning initiative here. You can also read more about the wide-ranging services we’ve provided at Graham Park.)

 

Photo by Doug Kerr. Used via a Creative Commons license.

Educational signage about rain garden

Signage turns green infrastructure in parks into an educational piece that can be used to meet MS4 MCM #1 requirements.

 

To sum it up: Incorporating green infrastructure into your park and recreational facilities allows you to provide a better experience for your residents while minimizing the cost of complying with environmental regulation and reducing future maintenance needs. It’s win-win-win!

In next week’s post, we’ll talk about how municipalities can incorporate green infrastructure into their parks and recreational spaces, including how to identify locations for green infrastructure and how to coordinate with other groups to get the projects built.

Ben Gilberti, P.E., manages civil engineering services provided by Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) throughout Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. He assists with the design of municipal infrastructure like sidewalks, stormwater systems, and sewer facilities.

James Feath, R.L.A., is a senior landscape architect at HRG. He has 20 years of experience in the planning and design of public spaces, including parks, trails, and recreational facilities.

Parks Provide the Ideal Location for Meeting Environmental Requirements

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This post is an excerpt from an article we published in the April 2018 issue of Borough News magazine entitled “Parks Provide the Ideal Location for Meeting Environmental Regulatory Requirements.”

Clearfield Riverwalk

Parks aren’t just for fun and relaxation. They deliver significant value to the community, increasing property values, promoting health and wellness, and providing a gathering spot for people to socialize and get to know their neighbors. Did you know they can also help your municipality address environmental concerns like flooding, water pollution, and streambank erosion? This makes them an ideal location for meeting the regulatory requirements contained in the MS4 program.

The latest round of permitting added a new requirement for many municipalities to quantify the level of pollutants they are contributing to the watershed and execute a plan to reduce that level by as much as 10%. Municipalities can meet these requirements by implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs) like green infrastructure and streambank stabilization projects.

The most expensive part of these projects is often buying the land on which to build, so why not use land the municipality already owns in its parks and recreational facilities?

Green Infrastructure

The wide expanses of open space that parks contain are a natural fit for BMPs like green infrastructure.

Green infrastructure uses plants, soils and engineered materials to mimic the processes that absorb water and filter pollutants in nature.

When rain falls on developed property, it sits on the pavement or is directed into pipes and inlets.

Concentrating the water in this way contributes to erosion, and, when too much rain falls at once, those pipes can be overwhelmed. Then flooding occurs.  In urban areas, the rain water often carries trash and other pollutants into the waterways, as well.

Photo by Clean Bread and Cheese Creek. Used via a Creative Commons License.Trash in stormwater

This is not the case in nature. Rain water that falls on undeveloped land is absorbed into the ground. Plants and vegetation filter chemicals and other pollutants from the water before it can reach our lakes and streams.  Green infrastructure seeks to replicate this process.

Examples of green infrastructure include:

  • Rain gardens
  • Bioswales
  • Permeable Pavement

Rain gardens are shallow basins lined with water-tolerant native plants and amended soil media that collect and absorb stormwater runoff.  They are also sometimes called bioretention or bioinfiltration basins.

By BrianAsh at English Wikipedia(Uploads) (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
rain gardens in parks can help with MS4 compliance

Bioswales are similar to rain gardens, but they are lined with plants that also filter pollutants from the runoff before it is absorbed into the ground. They are typically long and narrow and are thus well-suited for placement along streets and parking lots.

Bioswale in Frick Park

HRG helped identify green infrastructure opportunities for the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCSOSAN) that would help them address stormwater issues. This is a rendering of a bioswale in Frick Park along Amity Street in Homestead.

Permeable pavement is asphalt or concrete that is made to infiltrate runoff. Unlike conventional asphalt, permeable pavement is porous, and those pores allow water to seep into the ground.  Often a layer of aggregate or stones is placed underneath the surface pavement to help filter and store the water before it is absorbed into the soil.

Porous Pavement

Volunteers demonstrate how permeable pavement in the parking lot of a shopping center absorbs the water.

Watch a video about permeable pavementpermeable pavement video HRG incorporated into the West Caracas Avenue parking lot in Derry Township.  This video aired on by Fox43, a local news station in Central Pennsylvania.

Other examples of green infrastructure include tree canopies and rainwater harvesting systems.

Streambank Stabilization

Since many parks are already located along streams, they are particularly well-suited for streambank stabilization projects. In a fully developed community that lacks the open space needed for traditional land-based BMPs, a streambank restoration project in a municipal park offers the greatest opportunity for the community to meet its pollutant reduction goals.

This is the case for New Cumberland Borough in Central Pennsylvania. As part of its 2018 permit application, New Cumberland was required to prepare a Chesapeake Bay Pollutant Reduction Plan.  In this plan, the borough had to demonstrate how it will reduce its sediment load as part of a multi-state effort to clean up the bay.  The borough proposes to meet a significant part of that goal by planting a riparian forest buffer.  This buffer will extend the length of the borough park along the Yellow Breeches Creek toward the creek’s confluence with the Susquehanna River.  The buffer will slow down stormwater runoff and even absorb some of it in order to reduce further erosion of the streambank.

Streambank stabilization in Graham Park

A streambank restoration project HRG designed in Cranberry Township’s Graham Park

Incorporating green infrastructure and streambank stabilization projects into municipal park and recreational facilities helps to lower the cost of BMP construction for MS4 compliance, but it has many other benefits, too. In our next article, we’ll discuss more of the benefits of incorporating green infrastructure and streambank stabilization into park and recreational facilities.

Ben Gilberti, P.E., manages civil engineering services provided by Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) throughout Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. He assists with the design of municipal infrastructure like sidewalks, stormwater systems, and sewer facilities.

James A. FeathJames Feath, R.L.A., is a senior landscape architect at HRG. He has 20 years of experience in the planning and design of public spaces, including parks, trails, and recreational facilities.