Rain-Garden Design-Build Demonstration: Integrating Education, Scholarship, and Practice EPA 2008 Wetlands & Watersheds Conference Lee R. Skabelund, Kansas State University Manhattan, Kansas

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment provided financial assistance to the KSU-ISC Rain-Garden Project through EPA Section 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Grant #C9007405-12. WaterLINK (Water Quality Restoration and Protection Service Learning Mini-Grants awarded to KSU by KDHE utilizing EPA funds) provided financial assistance for the Fall 2006 KSU Campus Creek Planning/Design Charrette, Spring & Summer 2007 KSU-ISC Rain-Garden Construction, and other stormwater management projects by KSU faculty and students.

Konza Prairie near Manhattan, KS Flint Hills Ecoregion this ?

or

this ! Landscape Ecology Accounting for Ecological Interrelationships

Making Connections between a Landscape’s Structure, and how it Functions & Changes over time

Just as every land use decision influences water quantity & quality – the way we use and develop land also impacts livability, biodiversity & habitat integrity Primary Goal: Help People Make the Connections

To combat too much runoff streams and rivers have been straightened, dredged and lined with rock or concrete – typically passing flooding and water quality problems downstream…

Levees prevent sediment input into marshes

160 million tons of sediment per year delivered to the continental shelf Urban Stormwater Concerns

Throughout Manhattan, urbanizing parts of Riley County, Kansas, and other urban areas, stormwater is typically sent quickly away from developed areas and straight- piped into drainageways, streams, rivers, and ponds. As a result of these and other land-use practices, riparian ecosystems in the Upper Kansas River Watershed continue to be severely degraded. Large amounts of groundwater are also pumped to the surface, and sprayed on lawns, gardens, and other landscapes. Very little water replenishes underground water reserves.

What can we do to correct these bad habits? Key: Reduce Amount & Impact of Impervious Surfaces For a significant portion of rooftops and paved surfaces an integrated system of bio-swales and rain-gardens can help slow stormwater runoff, allowing pollutants to settle out, be treated by vegetation or stored in the soil, thus retaining & infiltrating stormwater.

Manassas, Virginia Research Project showed how most stormwater runoff can be treated in vegetated swales & existing vegetation – disconnecting first-flush and high velocity runoff from the stream corridor.

USDA CSREES PROJECTS 95-EWQI-1-9065 & 99-EWQI-1-0584 - Chesapeake Bay Residential Watershed Water Quality Management; A Growth Alternatives Education Program for the Virginia Portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. W. Kerns, L. Skabelund, et.al… Project Summary

• This collaborative design-build project engaged students, faculty, staff, and professionals in the task of considering ecologically sound ways to treat stormwater that falls on the KSU campus. In the process, two specific goals were achieved: •1) Designed and created a rain-garden along a selected area of Campus Creek to reduce stormwater run-off and improve water quality. •2) Demonstrated specific ways to address urban stormwater runoff to KSU administrators, staff, faculty, students, and visitors. Primary educational goals:

1) Help students deepen their knowledge of both natural and human systems (build on lessons learned in Natural Systems & Site Analysis, Fluvial Systems, Construction I, II & III, Environmental Issues & Ethics, Planting Design, LAR, NRES, and other courses at KSU); 2) Necessitate collaborative, interdisciplinary teamwork, and; 3) Require critical thinking about how conceptual design ideas are translated into construction drawings and functioning systems – with limited budget (time and money). Learning from Precedents: water-sensitive site planning/design Water-sensitive site Roof water is planning/design project collected in carved ASLA 2004 award winner stone basins, then drains into a grated channel before cascading over a five-foot stone-faced retaining wall. The learning lab and Design by Jones & Jones – Planners, auditorium buildings Architects & Landscape Architects expand onto the courtyard, which is paved with stone, subtly-colored sandblasted concrete, and tile artifacts (historically manufactured in the watershed). Surrounding forest and meadows are pulled into the courtyard and onto building roofs.

Cedar River Watershed Education Center - Seattle, WA Source: www.asla.org Water-sensitive site planning/design project Coffee Creek, Chesterton, Indiana Sources: www.coffeecreekwc.org/pages/showgallery_visitor.asp (photos) www.coffeecreekcenter.com/ (text) www.cdfinc.com (2001 Merit Award of Design, Illinois ASLA) Stream Employing Environmental Engineering Restoration of the Coffee Creek corridor is being implemented with guidance from biologists who understand the local & regional landscape. Level spreaders and vegetation infiltrate water into the soil. The project employs civil engineering without traditional expensive and destructive stormwater drainage systems – and provides a wide range of shared community open space within a 167-acre preserve.

Level Spreader slows runoff

Wetland Cell Prairie treats sewage Greenroof Restoring Native Ecosystems and Habitats “Unbuilt areas are being restored to a pre-settlement landscape to minimize soil erosion and rebuild soil integrity, re-establish native plant & animal communities and encourage increased bio-diversity.” Q: How do we restore hydrological processes in urban settings?

Fall 2004 KSU-LAR Stormwater Management Charrette Bioregion/Landscape

Site

Community Context Instructive Stormwater Management BMPs in the Region

Jackson Street Bioretention Areas, Topeka, KS Discovery Center, Living Machine & Created Wetland Kansas City, MO

Mize Lake Bioretention Cell and Created Wetland, Lenexa, KS Stormwater Management Charrette at Kansas State University Oct. 25-27, 2006

Three Guest Speakers/Reviewers and Links to KSU Classes Integrated Teams and Many Design Ideas…

Ten Teams; Multiple Sites; Reviews & Open House Potential Stormwater Management Retrofits near KSU’s Derby Dining Complex

Moore Hall/Claflin Rd. ISC/Residence Bioretention Area (Spring ’09?) Hall Raingardens, Amphitheater & Pathways (Fall 2009 charrette; Summer 2010 implementation?) Derby Haymaker & Green International Ford Hall Roof * Student Center Bioretention Raingarden Gardens (Spring 2007) (Spring ’09?)

* Collaborative Project with BNIM and other firms West & Ford Hall Parking Retrofit (Fall 2007 Studio Project; (Summer ’09 construction?) includes designing Green Roofs for Seaton Hall and other buildings at KSU; location and construction of a demonstration green Boyd Hall/Old Claflin Rd. roof date TBD) Raingarden (Fall ’08 / Spring ’09 implementation?) Restoring Hydrologic Processes along Campus Creek The KSU International Student Center Design-Build Rain-Garden Demonstration Project

Project inspired by KSU-LAR Stormwater Plan prepared by Management Charrette Cary Thomsen (MLA 2007) Restoring Hydrologic Processes along Campus Creek The KSU International Student Center Design-Build Rain-Garden Demonstration Project

ISC Staff: Photo taken April 23, 2007 Integrating Education, Research, and Practice project poster prepared in late May 2007 Restoring Hydrologic Processes along Campus Creek The KSU International Student Center Design-Build Rain-Garden Demonstration Project

Taiwan Wing

Korean Room

Planting Plan (Cary Thomsen, KSU-MLA) Planting & Setting Level-Spreader (4/28/07)

In-process rain-garden photos taken on 5/16/07, 6/2/07, 6/22/07, and 7/16/07. The KSU-ISC Rain-Garden

Campus Creek 5/1/07

5/1/07

Campus Creek 5/2/07

5/2/07 May 1-2, 2007 photos - taken during and after a 0.72-inch storm event (approximate). The KSU-ISC Rain-Garden

5/8/07 5/8/07

5/16/07 Rain-Garden & Campus Creek - 5/5/07

May 2007 photos - taken before and after an approximately 5 to 6-inch storm event during May 5-7, 2007. Repairs to flagstone path completed on May 16, 2007. Another 4 to 5 inches of rain fell in Manhattan on May 23-24, 2007. The KSU-ISC Rain-Garden

June 2, 2007 - photos taken during rain-garden tour by Master Gardeners. Garbage cans and pails used during spring and summer to help with watering. The KSU-ISC Rain-Garden

7/16/07 8/12/07

7/16/07 8/12/07 July and August 2007 photos The KSU-ISC Rain-Garden

Sep. 7, 2007 photo Rain-Garden Sign Sep. 26, 2007 photos The KSU-ISC Rain-Garden

October 2, 2007 - photos taken after a 1.2-inch storm event (approximate). The KSU International Student Center Rain-Garden Plant List

Proposed plants for basins (Feb 2007)

Proposed plants for fringe areas (Feb 2007)

ISC Rain- Garden Plants (Aug-Sep ’07) 10/29/07 Lessons Learned Results: This project has helped participants recognize the value of water and its role in sustaining developed landscapes and natural ecosystems by considering ways to harness rainwater for irrigation and ecological renewal. Assessment: • Administrators and staff evaluated proposed design work by offering comments about the design ideas presented. • Students learned from one another, faculty, and from professionals as they collaborated in vertical design teams; as they presented their ideas to administrators, professionals, faculty and peers; and as they helped implement design ideas at KSU’s International Student Center.

Note the water still in the rain-gutter, well after water soaked into heavy rain-garden soils 9/17/07 Early Monitoring Results April 1, 2008 Infiltration Tests (4); Bulk Density Probes (4)

Remember: each test is a unique snapshot… Early Monitoring Results

April 1, 2008 infiltration tests

1 North – 0.79 cm/hr 1 South – 0.62 cm/hr 2 Center – 14.10 cm/hr 3 Lawn (swale) – 0.93 cm/hr Sharing a Vision and Ideas: water-sensitive site planning/design project outreach

LID precedents and Fall 2007 Paola, KS project work design ideas… KSU Green Roof Design – Fall 2007

Green roof designs were proposed for a handful of buildings on the K-State Campus in Manhattan, Kansas. Landscape Architecture students visited four Project Sites constructed green roofs in Kansas City, Missouri; Derby Dining reviewed and discussed Complex the literature related to green roof design, construction and Chalmers & management; and then Ackert Halls selected one or more Seaton Hall (3) rooftops on which to design a green roof. K-State They spent three weeks Union asking: What if? What might be? If here, how?

Three-Week Green Roof Design Project, KSU-LARCP Specialization Studio – Prof. Lee R. Skabelund; Designers – 12 LAR Students. KSU Green Roof Design – Fall 2007

The Derby green roof would serve as park- like space for walking, reading and studying, conversing and eating, and resting, relaxing and sunbathing.

Three-Week Green Roof Design Project, KSU-LARCP Specialization Studio – Prof. Lee R. Skabelund; Designers – Cole Giesler & Katie Sobcynski. KSU Green Roof Design – Fall 2007

This green roof would serve as a research laboratory, outdoor reading room, and social gathering space.

Three-Week Green Roof Design Project, KSU-LARCP Specialization Studio – Prof. Lee R. Skabelund; Designers - Anthony Fox & Chris Morton. KSU Green Roof Plans – Spring 2008 This project will demonstrate how to create green roofs on three different rooftops each having a distinct micro-climatic condition. Research, teaching, and outreach work are currently being facilitated through a Spring 2008 NRES course.

Seaton Hall Rooftops Kansas State University

NRES follow-up work related to the Three-Week Green Roof Design Project, KSU-LARCP Specialization Studio – Prof. Lee R. Skabelund. KSU Green Roof Plans – Spring 2008 These green roofs would demonstrate ways to create and monitor green roofs on three distinct rooftops. The upper rooftop is exposed to sun and winds throughout the entire year. The lower rooftops are much more sheltered, receiving reflected sunlight much of the year and being sheltered from high winds. If green roofs are approved and placed on these rooftops they are expected to help reveal the viability of green roofs in the Flint Hills Eco-Region, as well as illuminating their respective merits related to conserving water and energy. Faculty from Architectural Engineering, Horticulture, Bio-Ag. Engineering, Agronomy, and other departments are assisting the students with their applied research efforts.

NRES Green Roof Project – Prof. Lee R. Skabelund, Landscape Architecture / Regional & Community Planning Students include: Nathan Henry, Sally Maddock & Christopher Potenski; and Patrick Bussen, Josh Campa, Noah Lovewell & Lauren Phillips Educational Objectives Achieved

• Engaged KSU administrators, staff, faculty, students, and local planning/design professionals in the planning/design process; • Encouraged substantive changes in stormwater management on campus as well as in the region and other communities. • Involved stakeholders at KSU & other communities; • Raised awareness of best practices; • Are testing and evaluating planning & design ideas on the ground. Questions / Discussion [email protected]

We are working with Art students/faculty to create rain-bowls for the rain-garden. KSU Capstone Project – Spring 2008 KSU Capstone Project – Spring 2008

Kyle Grist assessed buildings on the KSU campus for their green roof potential, and then completed exploratory designs for green roofs on Seaton Hall, Dykstra Hall, the Gymnasium, and the Derby Dining Center.

Greg Pfau completed conceptual green roof designs for three rooftops at the Peters Recreation Complex.

Both students benefited from work completed by Lee Skabelund’s Specialization Studio in Fall 2007, from the green roof field trip to Kansas City with Professor Skabelund’s Studio, from the photographs taken and KSU building plans secured by Professor Skabelund, and from guidance provided by Professor Skabelund and other Landscape Architecture faculty during work on their respective projects.