Using Green Infrastructure to Maximize Ecosystem Functions and Services in Cities: A Research, Demonstration, and Education Installation at Biosphere 2 Project Description 1. Abstract. This proposal seeks funds to install and monitor rain basin green infrastructure (GI) elements at Biosphere 2 (B2). Relatively little is known about best management practices (BMPs) for rain basin design with respect to effective ecological functioning, yet they hold great promise for arid cities and campuses for improving water quality and promoting green space by using harvested water for irrigation. We will install a set of basins at B2 using several different design approaches as experimental treatments (e.g., varying plant type, soil composition). The goals of this project are to: (1) investigate BMPs for storm water harvesting, (2) demonstrate to the public and UA students simple approaches to storm water management, and (3) reduce the water consumption at B2 for landscaping. This project has research, education, and outreach objectives. We provide opportunities for UA students to learn about GI, to participate in rain basin installation, and to gain skills in ecological research and environmental monitoring. Our research team includes collaborators from two colleges at UA, and a local non-profit environmental practitioner (Watershed Management Group). We request funds for basin installation, soil moisture sensors, analysis related to plant performance, student and technician hours, and exhibit signage. The project leverages support from in-kind (hours) of project team members, existing research equipment at B2, and existing research funding. This is a two-year project that will have support to ensure a long-term installation that support research, education, and outreach about the contribution of GI to urban sustainability. 2. Project members Project Leader Mitchell Pavao-Zuckerman, Assistant Research Professor, Biosphere 2, email: mzucker@email.arizona.edu, (520) 395-7775. Pavao-Zuckerman will oversee the project, supervise students, directly oversee soil microbiological research, and coordinate preparation of dissemination materials (signage, websites, etc.). He has experience in using soil and ecosystem indices of urban environmental quality and in ecosystem service monitoring. He also has experience designing and coordinating citizen science research. Project Members Greg Barron-Gafford, Project Co-PI, Assistant Research Professor, Biosphere 2, email: gbg@email.arizona.edu, Barron-Gafford is a plant ecophysiological expert, and will oversee plant-based metrics in the project. Nate Allen, Project Co-PI, Biosphere 2 Sustainability Coordinator, Research Specialist. email: nallenuab2@gmail.com. Allen will liaise with facilities staff at B2 and oversee monitoring of potable water use at B2. He has experience in installing water harvesting systems, collaborating with industry partners, and installing environmental sustainability exhibits at B2. He is also directing the Model City Program at B2. Erika Gallo, Project Co-PI, Research Associate, Biosphere 2, email: gallerik@isu.edu. Gallo will conduct biogeochemical assays for this project. She has experience with urban biogeochemistry and urban hydrology at landscape scales.
Jim Riley, Project Co-PI, Technical Advisor for Water Harvesting, Associate Professor, Soil, Water and Environmental Science Dept. Email: jjriley@ag.arizona.edu, Telephone: (520) 591-4019 Relevant experience includes being the instructor for SWES 454/554 Water Harvesting. Riley has collaborated with students installing several passive water harvesting projects on-andoff UA Campus. James MacAdam, LEED-AP, Green Streets Program Manager, Watershed Management Group, email: james@watershedmg.org, (520) 396-3266. MacAdam has experience in designing stormwater basins and facilitating a community-based workshop approach to basin installation. He will coordinate basin installation with Riley, including coordinating volunteer installers. Kyle Brown, Workshop Instructor, Watershed Management Group, email: kyleb@watershedmg.org, (520) 396-3266 Brown has experience with running installation workshops and public dissemination of information relating to green infrastructure. He will help coordinate basin installation by students and volunteers. 3. Project Narrative 3.1 Title. Using Green Infrastructure to Maximize Ecosystem Functions and Services in Cities: A Research, Demonstration, and Education Installation at Biosphere 2 3.2 Background and Project Description. Green infrastructure (GI) and low impact design (LID) are two strategies that have shown some success in ameliorating negative impacts on the environment due to urbanization. Green infrastructure involves using ecological principles in the design of natural and engineered systems so that soils and vegetation provide services that built (grey) infrastructure would otherwise provide in cities (i.e., moving stormwater runoff, reducing energy loads, etc.). While the goals of GI and LID are to restore and enhance ecosystem functioning and promote green space and biodiversity in cities, there is a significant lack of research that monitors the functioning of GI and LID, particularly in arid environments. Correspondingly, there is a lack of effective demonstrations and publically accessible literature and promotion of the relative successes and obstacles to using GI in cities. In fact, it is this lack of information on how GI does or does not meet goals of enhancing ecosystem functioning and altering ecosystem structure that limits the incorporation and application of GI in any large-scale urban environmental management. This project seeks to implement one form of GI, rain basins, on the Biosphere 2 (B2) campus that would serve research, education, and outreach goals relating to the contribution of GI to urban sustainability, as well as enhance the sustainability of B2 s landscaping activities. The goals of this project are to: (1) investigate BMPs for storm water harvesting, (2) demonstrate to the public simple LID approaches to storm water management, and (3) reduce the water consumption at B2 for landscaping. Rain basins are small gardens that are excavated depressions, and filled with some soil matrix, and planted with some desired plant palate. They are connected to surface stormwater flows through curb cuts or slopes that allow runoff to be diverted from typical urban flow paths and infiltrate the soils in the rain basins. There are two primary ecological functions of rain basins that we are interested in: (1) the potential for rain basins to intercept and retain stormwater and thereby promote plant growth in the urban environment (without supplemental irrigation), and (2) reduce the fluxes of pollutants from storm water to groundwater in cities (particularly
nitrate). The design of a rain basin (e.g., soil type, choice of mulching, type and density of plants, etc.) can affect both of these desired functions. With respect to using stormwater to irrigate urban plants, urban soils tend to be compacted and devoid of organic matter, so rain basin design tends to include soil mixes that can help improve soil structural quality for infiltration and plant growth. Evaporation rates are also elevated in cities due to urban heat island effects, so some application of mulch in basins can help reduce evaporative water losses. The use of rain basins can also impact runoff and groundwater quality by enhancing biologically mediated processes (e.g., nutrient uptake and recycling). Rain basins and other GI elements can mimic the functioning of riparian zones by concentrating water and nutrient flows, thus increasing the rate of biogeochemical activity and promoting the likelihood of biological uptake. While GI elements such as rain basins are used in Tucson and the UA campus (i.e., http://watershedmg.org/greenstreets/projects) and across the US to try to meet stormwater goals, best management practices (BMPs) to meet these desired ecological benefits in arid cities have yet to be developed. In Tucson, implementation follows practices developed on the east coast (i.e., by the EPA for utilization in places such as the Chesapeake Watershed). This project seeks to install a set of rain basins at B2 that will provide infrastructure for research into BMPs for GI in Tucson, while at the same time provide opportunities for (a) UA students to learn about GI and conduct research on GI, (b) the public visiting B2 to learn about urban GI, and (c) using native vegetation and water harvesting in the landscaping at B2. The information we obtain through this project will help guide future basin design in Tucson, and contribute to ongoing efforts to refine BMP recommendations and policies through our (MPZ, EG, JM) interaction and consultations with Pima County s Flood Management Office, and EPA Regional Managers. This project team has spent the last few years working on various components of the GI-rain basin question from facilitation of installation to basic research on ecological and hydrologic properties - what is needed at this point is a more controlled installation and setting for several basins that is appropriate for experimentation. We request funds to install 10 rain basins on the B2 campus these would be located in the student casita village, along the public tour route, and included in the demonstration/research installations we are currently implementing as part of our B2 Model City program. The 12 basins will be constructed using two different soil types (varying texture and organic matter content) and different approaches to surface mulching (organic mulch vs. rock mulch), allowing for replication of these design features in for a 2x2 experimental setting (N=3 of each treatment combination). These varied design elements will greatly affect ecological performance, yet reflect necessary choices in the urban environment. For example, while organic mulch may promote microbial populations, water infiltration, and nutrient retention, often rock mulch is required in order to withstand the velocity of storm water flows in cities. The basins will be planted with native shrubs (Mesquite, Palo Verde, and Desert Willow), three plants per basin. We will conduct several experiments with the basins during the dry season, including: (1) adding known volumes of water to each basin when soils are dry and tracking the fate of water and ecological response related to plant growth, and (2) adding water that is enriched with urban water pollutants (nitrates and heavy metals) to assess the ability of the basins to retain nutrients and pollutants. Additionally, we will monitor soil and plant responses to natural rain events during the monsoon seasons. A suite of variables will be assessed to determine how the different design treatments affect function: Physical characteristics: track soil moisture and water infiltration rates
Biological variables: Plant ecophysiology and growth (carbon uptake, evapotranspiration, leaf carbon isotopes to assess water use efficiency) and soil microbial communities (soil respiration, microbial activity, functional diversity) Chemical properties and processes: nitrogen retention and transformations, heavy metal concentrations These initial experiments will help guide recommendations for GI BMPs. The basins will have a life beyond the duration of this grant once constructed at B2. We will be able to use them to continue these initial measurements and to introduce new treatments (such as varying the species planed in the basins to include understory plants, grasses, and even vegetables/food plants). The unique nature of B2 as a science tourism destination with greater than 100K visitors per year (including primary and university school groups) creates a unique opportunity to teach about the background, design, and ecological role of GI in environmental sustainability in cities. Signage at B2 will explain the goals and motivation of this study to the visiting public. All researchers and students who work on this project will be trained to interpret the project to B2 visitors (acting as research docents). The education and outreach opportunities presented by this installation will also extend beyond the duration of this proposal funding. 4. Benefit to and involvement of UA students. The project will involve UA students in several ways: (1) we will include students from Water Harvesting, SWES 454/554 (i.e., a minimum of 10 undergrads and 1 graduate student participated in cistern construction in Spring 2012) in the design and installation of the rain basins; (2) students employed by and volunteering at B2 will be trained to explain and interpret the exhibit and experiments to the visiting public; and (3) one School of Natural Resources graduate student and two UA undergraduate (in any suitable environmental sciences major) will be employed during this project to help conduct experiments using the basins and process the relevant samples. This project will be visible along the B2 selfguided tour route in the casita village and thus also benefit students and faculty not directly involved with the project, where they will learn about water harvesting, urban GI, and ecosystem functions. Additionally, we will create a project website (similar to http://greenroofs.b2science.org/) describing the project and presenting data and findings. 5. Timeline. This project lasts two years: the beginning of Year 1 (2012 into 2013) focuses on installation, and the rest of Year 1 & 2 is spent using experiments to monitoring the ecological function and efficacy of the basins. The basins will remain a feature of the tour route at B2 and remain a viable research installation following the duration of the grant. Year 1 (2012-2013) Year 2 (2013-2014) Activity Sum Fall Win Spr Sum Fall Win Spr B2 site selection/design Basin design Basin installation Experiments Installation signage Website operational Press and media events
METRICS 6, 7, 8. Impacts on Sustainability: achievement, measuring, and reporting. This project addresses two Green Fund Priorities directly: (1) Increasing outdoor and indoor water efficiency: the rain basins at B2 will harvest surface runoff and use that to irrigate native plants on the B2 campus, thereby reducing demand for potable water for landscaping; and (2) education, research, and outreach initiatives directly related to environmental sustainability at UA: this project will involve UA students in both planning, implementation, and monitoring - these are several opportunities to teach about water harvesting, GI, and the science of environmental monitoring. Additionally, it will provide much needed infrastructure to conduct research relating to sustainability questions related to water quality and urban ecology. B2 is implementing a residential water metering program in the casita village this will allow us to track any impact on water use for landscaping that the basins would support. The metrics we will use to monitor basin impacts on plant growth include the ecophysiological metrics mentioned above, and for the pollutant impacts will relate to microbial function and nitrogen biogeochemistry. Evaluations and assessment in the SWES class, visitor counts at B2, and Google analytics (number of uses, location, time spent, etc.) on the project website will help assess achievement of education and outreach goals. Reporting will include a project website, reports as directed by the Green Fund, signage at the installation at B2, and manuscripts in scholarly journals. The UA Green Fund will be recognized in all publications and signage resulting from this project. Budget 9. Form (attached separately) 10. Long term support. We are actively seeking extramural funding from the National Science Foundation, EPA, and USDA to support research and outreach related to GI, water harvesting, stormwater management, urban biogeochemistry, etc. These proposals would leverage the basin installation supported by the Green Fund and continue our ability to monitor ecological function. We have also developed relationships with industry partners (such as Veolia Environment) and other institutions (such as CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique) in Paris) that are interested in supporting research partnerships at B2 in GI and urban ecosystem ecology. B2 has a 'quasi-endowment' that supports facilities operations, maintenance, research staff, technicians, and student support. This 'soft money' funding will ensure upkeep and maintenance of the basins and some degree of support of the research and outreach they enable. 11. Matching funding. Existing supports: In-kind contribution of research team hours (MPZ, 120 hours supervising project; GBG, NA, EG, 60 hours to implementation and research; JR, 100 hours directing SWES 454/545; JM and KB, 60 hours to basin design and installation) Biosphere 2 site use fee - we will be able to waive the site use fee at B2 for research projects (the site use fee replaces some overhead charges on federal grants, and covers costs to support facilities and maintenance crews, use of utilities, etc.) B2 Storm Water Application And Monitoring Program (SWAAMP) - MPZ oversees a $5,000 budget (donated by the Paul Galvin Trust) to support student-centered research in urban stormwater questions. This budget will support the costs of soil biogeochemical
analysis for this study (we request funding from the Green Fund for plant chemistry analysis). We will be able to make use of some hand-held sensors and lab equipment already purchased by B2 that will be used for this project: Hydrosense soil moisture sensors (for spot measurements of surface soil moisture $800), Porometer (to measure leaf water dynamics, $2,200), LiCor 4600 (to measure soil respiration, $4,500), Tetracam multiband camera (to measure plant 'greenness' and health indices, $5,000), as well as drying ovens, balances, mills, sample storage space, etc. Digital water metering in the B2 casita village - allowing us to assess reductions in water use for landscaping Space on the B2 webserver for the project website Pending funding: NSF Ecosystems Panel Submission, Gallo and Pavao-Zuckerman PIs, (Title: Hot moments and biogeochemistry of semi-arid urban ephemeral streams and engineered green infrastructure). This is a preproposal submitted in January 2012, we would be invited to submit a full proposal in July 2012, and funded by Fall 2012 - the project would be roughly 2 years, and have a budget of around $300,000. Funds from this NSF grant would support additional chemical and microbiological analyses of the basins.