Up a Creek: Holistic Water Management from Tap to Tributary.

Transcription

1 Up a Creek: Holistic Water Management from Tap to Tributary. PRESENTERS Collins Pier, P.E., is a Senior Project Manager for Trendmaker Development Company. Collins has over 13 years of experience in engineering, development, and management of projects in the greater Houston area. He focuses on working collaboratively with consulting engineers, landscape architects, ecological restoration consultants, and contractors to design and create first class amenities and infrastructure that support Trendmaker Development communities. Prior to working at Trendmaker Development Company, Collins practiced as a registered professional engineer designing and implementing storm water conveyance facilities. Tim Peterson, ASLA, is a Principal with SWA Group where he has worked for eighteen years on a diverse range of public and private projects including parks, college and corporate campuses, natural system restorations, master planned communities, and medical, office, and research facilities. His primary role has been project management and providing construction phase services to ensure contractor design compliance during project implementation. Tim received a Bachelor of Science degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Wisconsin and is currently registered in the State of Texas. Matt Baumgarten, ASLA, is an Associate with SWA Group and has over 8 years of professional landscape architecture experience. As a lead project designer, he utilizes his background in ecology and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin to create land based solutions for complex domestic and international projects. With an emphasis on public parks and open spaces, riparian corridors, waterfront development, and regional planning, Matt brings an innovative design approach with a primary focus on solving current and projected environmental challenges. SESSION SUMMARY Just as a single drop of rain is not considered a storm, water management with a single focus is not a best management practice. Equally problematic are ambitious plans gathering dust on shelves and never to be realized. This session will examine a 3,200 acre transect of three interconnected sites focusing on innovative water management techniques from tap to tributary. Each project was given life at the community master planning stage and all have subsequently been constructed. Together they are essential site infrastructure investments that have also become cornerstones for community recreation and overall quality of life. Successes and lessons learned will be presented as well as the path toward changing public perceptions and resulting economic successes. LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Seamlessly integrating mechanical and biological wastewater treatment systems. 2. Implementation of large scale native naturalized open spaces in a community context. 3. Fluvial geomorphologic creek restoration as a neighborhood amenity and to mitigate frequent flood events.

2 PRESENTATION OUTLINE 1. Introduction a. The need to construct multifaceted water management systems. b. Formation and development of client/consultant partnerships. c. Understanding and responding to regional climate and landscape. d. Historic and evolving approaches to water management. 2. Project Case Studies a. Cypress Water Quality Basin i. Greywater treatment process overview ii. Integrating a natural systems approach iii. Moving from function, to form, to amenity iv. Implementation process v. Summary of lessons learned b. Cross Creek Ranch Open Space Reserves i. Client objectives ii. Borrowed landscape and design conceptualization iii. Implementation process iv. Post construction/maintenance requirements v. Summary of lessons learned

3 c. Flewellen Creek Stream Restoration i. Trampled: Existing site conditions ii. Restoring sense of place iii. Multi disciplinary collaboration 1. Master planning 2. Fluvial geomorphology 3. Infrastructure and utilities 4. Ecological restoration iv. Site amenity tour by foot, fin, or flight v. Implementation process vi. Post construction/maintenance requirements vii. Summary of lessons learned

4 3. The Role of Public Perception a. Pursuit of Green ideals b. Post occupancy feedback c. Community education and marketing d. Economic results 4. Next Steps: The resulting Frontier Project model 5. Questions and Feedback RELEVANT DEFINITIONS 1. Biostructures: The application of reclaimed trees within the restored creek used to jumpstart habitat and help control erosion. They mimic features that are found in natural streams. Types of project biostructures include: a. Standing Snags Dead trees that are planted to provide vertical features for raptors and birds of prey to perch. b. Brush Piles Harvested limbs of dead trees that are manually intertwined and stacked to provide ground level habitat for small mammals, birds, and nesting materials. Set upon the creek floodplain, they are staked to the ground to avoid being swept downstream by floodwaters. c. Root Wads A dead tree where the trunk is cut off several feet above the root ball and the leader and root mass remains intact as a singular unit. This stump is then jammed into side slopes of stream cut banks leaving the ends of the roots exposed as a bank stabilization device. 2. Ecotone: A transitional area of vegetation between two different plant communities, such as a forest and grassland. It has some of the characteristics of each bordering biological community and often contains species not found in the overlapping communities. An ecotone may exist along a broad belt or in a small pocket, such as a forest clearing, where two local communities blend together. The influence of the two bordering communities on each other in is known as the edge effect. An ecotonal area often has a higher density of organisms of one species and a greater number of species than are found in either flanking community. Some organisms need a transitional area for activities such as courtship, nesting, or foraging for food. (Encyclopedia Britannica) 3. Fluvial Geomorphology: The study of the processes and pressures operating on river systems. Changes in the independent variables of discharge, sediment load supplied to reach, and valley slope give rise to adjustments in the dependent variables of sediment load and particle size, hydraulic characteristics, and morphologies, all of which interact with each other. (Oxford Dictionary). These forces shape a stream and create a meandering effect resulting in minimized erosion and the formation of oxbows. 4. Landscape Typologies: The different planting community massings found in each project. a. Oak Savannah Tallgrass Zone: i. 10 trees per acre, ii. Tallgrass Native Trail seed mix, managed for maximum foliage and seed production, iii. Non natives and invasive plants removed by hand or killed with highly controlled weed wick (no spraying allowed) iv. Fertilized once a year with liquid applied compost tea, v. Mowed once every year to control woody volunteer plants, vi. Mowing of street curb edges and trail edges with a 24 wide strip,

5 vii. Drip irrigation for tree establishment and quick couplers for watering when needed, grow in period to use temporary irrigation. b. Reforestation Tallgrass Zone: i trees per acre, ii. Understory planted with Weeping Lovegrass as initial groundcover, iii. Intended over time to become a mixed native grass understory environment with wildflowers along the sunny edges, shade tolerant grasses and native understory shrubs in deeper shade, and open leaf litter areas in deep shade, iv. Non natives and invasive plants removed by hand or killed with highly controlled weed wick (no spraying allowed), native volunteer species are acceptable and should generally be retained, v. Long term, anticipate some migration of St. Augustine grass from residential area into tallgrass areas; healthy tallgrass areas should be able to effectively compete with St. Augustine if they are not mowed, vi. Fertilized once a year with liquid applied compost tea, vii. Never mow interior of zones, viii. Mowing of street curb edges and trail edges with a 24 wide strip, ix. Optional mowing of residential area rear and side fence lines; mow 5 wide strip on regular lawn mowing schedule. x. Drip irrigation for trees, quick couplers for watering when needed, grow in period to use temporary irrigation. c. Mowed Lawn Zone: i. Trees planted in lawn areas as needed for shade, recreation, and aesthetics, ii. Open Bermuda grass areas, iii. Mowed on regular lawn mowing schedule, iv. Fertilized twice a year with liquid applied compost tea, v. Full irrigation. d. Ornamental Grasses and Perennial Gardens: i. Located in high visibility areas, designed for color, texture and form, ii. Managed for highest level of display quality, iii. Non natives and invasive plants removed by hand or killed with highly controlled weed wick (no spraying allowed), iv. Fertilized twice a year with liquid applied compost tea, supplemental organic fertilizer and nutrients applied once a year based on results of full soil web soils test, v. Full irrigation. 5. Live Staking: The insertion of live, vegetative cutting into ground in a manner that allows the cutting to take root and grow. Similar to poles they are generally used for structure reinforcement on slopes and streambanks, in floodplains where they can reach the water table and vadose zone. Gullies and bare gully banks can benefit from live staking. (urbancreeks.org) 6. Native/Naturalized Planting Zones: In the context of the referenced case studies, a native/naturalized planting is defined by the following: a % native species, b. Understory grasses that are allowed to grow to their natural height and go through their usual lifecycle during the year, c. Mowing once per year in the winter usually between January and February, d. Maintenance that is limited to weed pulling and mowing once a year, e. Irrigation is turned off once understory grasses achieve ground coverage of 90%.

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