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Project
Background
As a part of its Blue Cities™ initiative, CRWA is leading several
projects that promote environmentally sensitive development which
replicates and restores the natural water cycle. As a part of this effort, in early 2008 CRWA
and the Town of Blackstone identified the Blackstone Town Hall site as
a candidate for landscaped and engineered stormwater improvements and are
working to implement a retrofit project. This project will serve
as a model for other municipalities for better site design, educate the
public on the practice of stormwater retrofits, and help CRWA streamline the
process of effectively promoting, and successfully implementing Low Impact
Development (LID) Best Management Practices (BMPs).
Blackstone Town Hall rear parking lot today
Proposed improvements to Blackstone Town Hall rear lot
The Blackstone Town Hall site has been
selected for this project because it provides ample opportunity for public
education and for ongoing evaluation and monitoring. The American National
Power (ANP) Blackstone Restoration Fund, from which CRWA received funding
for this project, was established to implement projects such as this one,
which will improve Blackstone’s stormwater management, increase groundwater
recharge, and protect and enhance the town’s water resources.
Project Goals
The project goals for
greening the Blackstone Town Hall site are:
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To identify the most
appropriate BMPs for retrofitting the site based on site conditions,
pollutants of concern, aesthetics, maintenance requirements and cost;
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To create a retrofit
plan for the site at the schematic design level;
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To develop outreach
material for public education on the project;
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To develop a monitoring
and evaluation plan for assessing the performance of the BMP’s;
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To use the phase II
funding as a match to apply for a 319 grant from the Massachusetts Department
of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) for construction
documentation and implementation of BMPs.
Project Tasks and Highlights
Task 1: Convene Demonstration
Project Committee (DPC)
CRWA organized and convened
its first successful DPC meeting on June 17, 2008. CRWA invited
representatives from various Town departments, Board of Selectmen,
Blackstone River Watershed Association and International Power America to
constitute the DPC. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce LID
concepts, CRWA’s vision for realizing a demonstration project on the Town
Hall site, and steps needed for successful assessment and implementation.
The DPC since met on a quarterly basis till the beginning of 2009 to review the design and
advise in the planning process.
Task 2: Existing Conditions
Assessment
CRWA conducted several
site visits to familiarize ourselves with the existing conditions, assess
stormwater flows, and identify potential project constraints, both at the
site-specific level and within the context of the sub-watershed. With help
from Beals and Thomas, Inc. (B&T), CRWA compiled information to create a
base map of the project site highlighting stormwater flow direction,
locations of utilities including storm drains, sewers, and gas lines, and
locations and descriptions of photos taken during a site visit. (PDFs of
the site analysis document
and site visit
report are available upon request from Pallavi Mande (Click here for contact information ).
The site survey and
resulting topographical plan and map, displaying surface and pertinent
infrastructure elevations were completed along with the HydroCAD and
WinSLAMM stormwater modeling to assess flows, volumes, and pollution
loading. CRWA conducted a
comprehensive assessment of this information and identified specific
potential locations for and types of stormwater retrofits.
Task 3: Evaluate Retrofit
Opportunities
CRWA evaluated a
variety of LID and green infrastructure approaches and innovative stormwater
BMPs for application in the study area. The above information was put
together in a matrix of various
LID BMP’s and
fact-sheets
on each BMP. Different designs and specific BMPs were
evaluated based on: pollutant removal efficiency, site constraints of the
specific BMPs, capital and maintenance costs, potential installation and
site restrictions, suitability of design, replicability and community
support.
On the site level, CRWA
put together three conceptual plans which focused on three different retrofit
locations and approaches, i.e. garden, streetscape, parking lot.
Garden Concept Plan
Streetscape Concept Plan
Parking Lot Concept Plan
These conceptual plans were
presented and discussed in terms of estimated retrofit impacts to recharge,
water quality, visibility, and educational opportunities in addition to
other project goals as identified by the project team.
The WinSLAMM Model was used to estimate
the impacts of the three design alternatives and the outcomes of
different scenarios including water quantity and quality benefits.
Task 4: Selection of
BMP’s and design of final retrofit plan
Following direction from
the DPC members, CRWA put together a preferred alternative with specific
recommendations for best management practices.
Overview of site with proposed retrofits
Revised and updated parking lot retrofit plan
Blackstone Town Hall senior center and police station parking lot today
Proposed improvements to Blackstone Town Hall senior center and police
station parking lot
Following the approval of
the site layout by the Board of Selectmen, CRWA handed over the development of the schematic
design to B&T. Schematic
designs include sizing and engineering requirements
for each BMP, maintenance
requirements, estimated approximate costs, and operational issues.
Task 5: Development of
Monitoring Plan
Following the design of
the retrofit plan, CRWA developed a monitoring and evaluation plan to establish protocol for proper project maintenance and upkeep, and develop methodologies to
evaluate the impacts of the retrofit project. The plan includes
methods for the collection and evaluation of stormwater quantity and quality
data, maintenance tasks and costs
and evaluation methodologies.
Regular maintenance is essential to preserve the functionality and success of structural LID BMPs. Maintenance of these systems are necessary to maintain a desired level of performance and efficiency. Developing a maintenance plan and budget prior to project implementation will help ensure that departments and individuals responsible to various maintenance tasks are engaged from the beginning, have the opportunity to provide feedback on their roles, and ultimately have the capacity to perform the necessary maintenance tasks.
Task 6: Meetings and Public
Outreach
Regular meetings were scheduled with the DPC to discuss progress in design. Also, a follow up
meetings was held with the parks and recreation departments as well as with
fire and police departments to discuss particular concerns regarding the
design of the parking lot. The first public meeting on the project took
place on December, 2008 and the second one in
February 2009 to keep the public abreast of project. The final design was presented to the Board of Selectmen for approval on January 5, 2009. PDF of various presentations are available upon request from Pallavi Mande( Click here for contact information).
Mapping support for this project provided by:
ESRI and the ESRI Logo are licensed trademarks of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.
Last updated December 30, 2011
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WATERSHED INFO