Watershed, Stormwater, & Integrated Water Management
- Hamden Middle School Stormwater Management
Hamden, Connecticut
the challenge The Bioengineering Group was retained to develop a sustainable stormwater management plan for a new middle school under construction in Hamden, Connecticut as well as to recommend other low impact development measures for site development consistent with site programming. The new middle school is located on land that formerly served as a portion of a public golf course and a gravel pit and the site drains to two brooks subject to frequent flooding. The project was slated to be the first public green building project in Connecticut, aiming for LEED certification by the US Green Building Council.
the interdisciplinary approach After gathering stakeholder input at community meetings and collecting field data, the Bioengineering Group developed a report to guide the conceptual designs of low-impact development techniques, general drainage planning, and integrated pest control for athletic fields and schoolyard landscape. Some of the Best Management Practices (BMPs) recommended for the purpose of replicating pre-development hydrologic functions included porous pavement, grass swales, vegetated filter strips, and rain gardens. We also designed and prepared grading and planting plans for two, large bioretention basins and presented these designs to the Inland Wetlands Commission for permit approval.
the resultsThe result of the project was a bioengineered design that managed stormwater runoff such that not only were the post development peak flows less than predevelopment peak flows, but the site performs infiltration and evapotranspiration to a level as if it were in its undeveloped condition, a practice known as Site Scale Sustainable Hydrology. Each measure was designed to minimize the hydrologic and ecological impacts of the new school within the context of the overall campus master plan. The site planning, stormwater management, and habitat restoration elements scored many points toward the LEED rating system used for green building certification. Moreover, the stormwater management techniques serve as examples of good environmental stewardship that teachers can integrate into the curriculum, featuring attractive, low-maintenance native plant communities.