On April 27, 2016, Michele Adams of Meliora Design and Tavis Dockwiller of Viridian Landscape Studio gave a presentation on green infrastructure during a workshop put together by New Jersey Future in partnership with ANJEC. The workshop was held for municipal leaders like mayors, planning and zoning board members, environmental commission leaders, and members of the general public in the Highlands region.
2. About New Jersey Future
.
Research✓ Policy✓ Advocacy✓ Assistance✓
www.njfuture.org
3. New Jersey Future’s
Mainstreaming Green Infrastructure program
Working with a few key towns to provide education,
training and direct technical assistance to improve
water quality, reduce flooding and create vibrant,
healthy communities.
Facilitating and accelerating demonstration projects
that show innovative, impressive, effective use of
green infrastructure
Convening a Green Infrastructure Task Force of
developers and design professionals
6. Agenda
Introduction
Green Infrastructure 101
Why Does Stormwater Matter?
Where is Policy Headed?
What is Green Infrastructure?
Triple Bottom Line Benefits
Green Infrastructure – Making It Happen in Your Town
Tools
NJ Regulatory Considerations
Break Out Session & Discussion
9. It wants to be a forest – a tree is the best practice
99% of North America was covered by forest from the
Atlantic shoreline to the prairies of the Great Plains.
Today only fragments remain.
Pre-European settlement Present
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov 14 October 2003
10. It wants to be a forest, but…
43,480 square miles of blacktop = 5.5 the size of
New Jersey
14. How compacted is this soil?
Common Bulk Density Measurements
David B. Friedman, District Director -- Ocean County Soil Conservation District
Golf Courses, Parks, Athletic Fields
1.69 to 1.97g/cc
Undisturbed Lands:
Forests & Woodlands
1.03g/cc
CONCRETE
2.2g/cc
Residential
Neighborhoods
1.69 to 1.97g/cc
Bulk Density is defined as the weight of a unit volume of soil including its pore space (g/cc or grams/cubic centimeter). Water and air are
important components of soil and we must frame our soil concepts so that factors affecting water and air dynamics are included. Thus, we are
primarily interested in bulk density and pore space as they affect water and aeration status, and root penetration and development.
15. Despite decades of detention basins, we still have
flooding from development.
16.
17.
18.
19. • Stream channel erosion
releases sediment
• Pools and riffles are lost
• Large storms cannot reach
floodplains
• Less recharge = less
baseflow
• Small streams can go dry
• La
20. Two important observations:
96% of the annual rainfall volume is from storms 3 inches or less
Frequency: Most of the time, it rains 1 inch or less
Annual Percentages of Volume from Storms
21. Creating a Built Environment That Looks Like a Forest
26 in.
12 in.
12 in.
Evaporation
Infiltration
Runoff
Annual Rainfall
50 in.
22. Section 438 of the Energy Independence and Security Act (Dec 2009)
Design, construct, and maintain stormwater
management practices that mimic natural hydrology
OR
Retain the 95th percentile Rainfall (around 1.7”)
EPA’s Direction for Federal Facilities
We are seeing
variations of this
requirement in MS4
NPDES permits in
different states.
Municipal Separate
Storm Sewer System
23. How we BUILD and how we PLAN
Low Impact Development (LID)
or Green Infrastructure (GI)
“Allow natural infiltration to occur as close as possible to the
original area of rainfall. By engineering terrain, vegetation,
and soil features to perform this function, costly conveyance
systems can be avoided and the landscape can retain more of
its natural hydrologic function.”
National Association of Home Builders
24. 22
”
8”
Tools for how we build:
• Green roofs
• Porous Pavements
• Rain Gardens and Bioretention
• Cisterns and Reuse
26. New Development: Residential
• High Density Residential
• 59 acres
• 269 homes:
• 146 Townhouses
• 96 Quads
• 17 Singles
• Sinkholes and limestone
Can Water be Managed within the landscape?127 small measures, no detention basins.
27.
28.
29. Each home manages its own runoff
in a Rain Garden seepage bed,
located in the right-of-way.
31. Schools make up 2% of all impervious cover in the
City, but because they are highly visible and
associated with education… they present a high
priority target for greening.
Greening Greenfield Elementary School
Philadelphia, PA
51. 6-8” S-1 Soil Layer: Planting Soil Surface layer. A layer consisting of material with a USDA Texture of
sand to loamy sand (S2) amended with organic matter. (must be tested to meet specs after compost is
approved and added)
24” S-3 Soil Layer: Planting Soil Drainage Layer consisting of a 6 layer of material with a USDA
Texture of coarse sand
Stormwater Section
61. Agenda – Part 2
Green Infrastructure – Making It Happen in Your Town
Tools
• Planning – EPA Scorecard
• Design – Rutgers Center for Water Resources
NJ Regulatory Constraints
Break-out Sessions
68. Where are we in the watershed?
Phillipsburg Town
Byram
Township
Washington Borough
Newton Town
Upper
Delaware
Watershed
Wallkill Watershed
69. Break-out session:
What are the opportunities in your town?
Break into 4 groups
Maps at each table
Green Infrastructure Playing Cards at each table
Dots for Maps
Small Sticky Notes
Markers
Giant Sticky Notes Pad
70. Exercises:
A. Identify types of GI
a. GI that you like/understand would use
b. Types of GI that concern you, why?
B. Identify Places you might use GI or places you have water trouble
a. Green = a good place for GI demonstration projects
b. Red = a water trouble spot (flooding or something else)
c. Small sticky notes = project/problem descriptions
d. Upcoming projects and potential opportunities
C. Use large pads and small sticky notes to add important information for
examples
a. Record group thoughts (large pads)
b. Identify potential partners
c. Identify barriers to implementation
d. Do you need a Code re-write?
Intro to Break-out session:
What are the opportunities in your town?