Craven Street Stormwater Improvement Projects

Transcription

1 Craven Street Stormwater Improvement Projects The Craven Street Watershed drains the area from Haywood Road to Westwood Place and down Haywood to the French Broad River. The watershed has one main un-named stream which begins next to Steebo s Gallery and parallels Waynesville Ave, as it flows to the French Broad River. This stream bisects the New Belgium Property, although historically the stream turned toward the south, entering the French Broad River just north of the RiverLink Bridge. The property along the river was once a construction landfill, which altered the river corridor. The stream was straightened, flattened and redirected to the French Broad River. The watershed covers approximately 240 acres of predominantly residential use in eastern West Asheville. The Craven Street Improvement Project is a public infrastructure project that aims to improve stormwater runoff, water quality, pedestrian mobility, transportation, and enhance the natural environmental features of the site. is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. John Wesley Powell, scientist geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed is: "that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community." Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries. In the continental US, there are 2,110 watersheds; including Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico, there are 2,267 watersheds. Craven St Watershed is a sub-watershed within the French Broad River Watershed. Source: P.O Box Asheville, NC

2 Craven Street Stormwater Improvement Project Fact Sheet The Craven Street Improvement Project is a public infrastructure project, in conjunction with the City of Asheville, RiverLink Inc., and New Belgium Brewing Company. The project includes realignment of Craven Street, improved pedestrian transportation, stormwater management and water quality improvement in the unnamed stream bisecting the New Belgium property. RiverLink received $400,000 in grant funding from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund to support the construction of numerous stormwater BMPs, stream enhancement, stormwater retention, and low impact development practices, to improve the water quality in the stream and French Broad River. The Craven Street project aims to capture and treat the first inch of stormwater from the neighborhood through a variety of stormwater quality mechanisms. This includes bioretention areas, bioswales along the road way, rain gardens in parking lots, and constructed wetlands throughout the site. The project will improve the stream corridor, through bank stabilization, native plantings, and contouring of the stream bank. Additionally New Belgium is capturing rain water for irrigation purposes. These stormwater improvements will capture and treat rain water before entering the stream, reducing erosion, and volume of stormwater runoff. Improve Water Quality Reduce Non-point source pollution Reduce Flooding Improved quality of life Improved infrastructure, safety and security Reduce erosion of stream banks and drainages Provide habitat for wildlife Reduce use of potable water on your landscape P.O Box Asheville, NC

3 Craven Street Stormwater Improvement Project Fact Sheet The Craven Street Watershed is a highly urbanized residential neighborhood, with steep slopes from Haywood Road down to the French Broad River. The stream is highly impacted by the current stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces in the neighborhood. The stream has steep banks, which are undercut areas undermining surrounding property. Rain falls on roads, sidewalks, and roof tops, and this water accumulates and flows directly to the stream, increasing the volume and speed of the water, increasing erosion and sedimentation in the creek. The Craven Street improvement project proposes the installation of stormwater retention and stormwater water quality best management practices (BMPs) along the new road way to improve the stream quality. Neighbors can assist by installing rain harvesting mechanisms like rain barrels and cisterns, constructing rain gardens or bioswales, and disconnecting and/or rerouting downspouts to drain into a rain garden on onto the native soil, not into the road. is water which falls during a storm or other wet weather event, that does NOT soak into the ground. As this water travels from the sky over impervious surfaces, such as roofs, driveways and streets, it picks up pollutants which flow directly into streams. A is a technique, structure, process, or activity used to reduce the pollutant content and volume of runoff. Examples of structural BMPs include rain gardens, bio-retention areas, and vegetated swales. These are typically depressed gardens used to capture and treat the runoff prior to entering the stream. Install stormwater BMPs such as rain gardens and bio-swales, to capture and cleanse water. Disconnect downspouts from the stormwater system, allowing water to flow over vegetated surfaces. Collect and bag leaf litter, rather than allowing it the enter the storm system, potentially clogging drains and pipes. Collect rain water in cisterns or rain barrels for non-potable uses. Use correct fertilizer application rates, and remove over sprayed fertilizer from impervious surfaces, like sidewalks and driveways. Enhance the riparian corridor, through removing invasive species and replanting with native plants. Establish conservation easements along the riparian corridor, other key habitats and open space. Don t dispose of motor oil or antifreeze down storm drains. Pick up and properly dispose of pet waste. Wash your car at a commercial car wash, especially if they recycle the water. Properly dispose of household hazardous wastes, such as paint, cleaners, solvents, and batteries. P.O Box Asheville, NC

4 Craven Street Stormwater Improvement Project Fact Sheet There are numerous factors which help us ascertain the health of a stream; water quality, physical structure of the stream, and vegetation along the stream are the major components. The quality of the water is often the most commonly thought of factor when we think about stream health. Yet the physical structure and environmental factors are also key aspects. The physical aspects of the stream include the stability of the banks determining if the stream is eroding, connectivity to a floodplain providing flood management, and vegetation along the stream providing habitat and water quality filtration. Another component of stream health is examining the aquatic life and stream habitat. Other factors including in determining stream health also include the designated use of the stream, for example water used for municipal drinking supply is WS. The French Broad is classified B, to be primary used for recreation. Any activity that occurs on the land has the potential to affect the health of a stream whether it happens immediately beside the stream or miles away at the most distant point in the watershed. So when we evaluate the health of a stream, we have to look beyond the stream banks to the entire watershed. 1 The City of Asheville is designated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as an MS4 community, where the municipal sewer system has separate storm and septic systems. EPA s Stormwater Phase II Rule establishes an MS4 stormwater management program that focuses on non-point pollution prevention through community education, construction site runoff control, public participation, and illicit discharge detection and elimination to improve the water quality in the watershed. The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Water Quality (DWQ) is the agency responsible for statewide regulatory programs in surface water and groundwater protection, including the EPA s Non-point source pollution prevention program. DWQ, through examination of water samples, benthic organisms, and stream assessments, develops a list of streams that are impaired or impacted by non-point source pollution, under their Impaired & Impacted Stream Initiative, called the 303d list. These programs also assist in evaluating the watershed to identify ongoing conservation and potential BMPs. Establishes an MS4 stormwater management program that is intended to improve the nation s waterways by reducing the quantity of pollutants that stormwater picks up and carries into storm sewer systems during storm events. Common pollutants include oil and grease from roadways, pesticides from lawns, sediment from construction sites, and carelessly discarded trash, such as cigarette butts, paper wrappers, and plastic bottles. These pollutants can impair the waterways, thereby discouraging recreational use of the resource, contaminating drinking water supplies, and interfering with the habitat for fish, other aquatic organisms, and wildlife. 2 unlike pollution from industrial and sewage treatment plants, comes from many diffuse sources. NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even our underground sources of drinking water. These pollutants include: Excess fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides from agricultural lands and residential areas; Oil, grease, and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production; Sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding streambanks; Salt from irrigation practices and acid drainage from abandoned mines; Bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet wastes, and faulty septic systems P.O Box Asheville, NC

5 Craven Street Stormwater Improvement Project Fact Sheet Stormwater runoff is the major contributor to water quality in Western North Carolina. The stormwater BMPs installed during this project is one step towards improving our water quality and protecting the French Broad River. Non-point source pollution, such as oil from parking lots, fertilizers, pesticides, and sediments is a major threat to the health of our waterways, but by using these BMPs local residents can greatly reduce the amount of pollution that reaches our streams. Stormwater BMPs treat and store non-point source runoff from impervious surfaces, such as roads and roof tops. BMPs can be described as either structural or non-structural. Structural BMPs are constructed features, which can include rain gardens, bio-retention areas, and retention areas, where as non-structural BMPs are programmatic and can include storm drain marking, street sweeping, and public education. Rain gardens are small vegetated depressions used to promote infiltration of rainfall runoff from roofs, driveways, and sidewalks. Rain gardens combine grasses, shrubs, and perennials with mulch and soil to filter pollutants in the water runoff. Vegetation is critical to the proper function of a rain garden and proper plant selection is important. Bioretention areas are vegetated depressions intended to catch and filter stormwater run-off. They are constructed with plants, an underdrain system and engineered soil to improve filtration and absorption. Stormwater wetlands are constructed wetlands that are intended to trap and filter pollutants, as well as retain run-off volume. They are planted depressions which remain wet during a majority of the year. There are no drainage systems associated with the wetland, only an outfall directing water to the appropriate location if the wetlands were to fill completely. P.O Box Asheville, NC

6 Craven Street Stormwater Improvement Project Fact Sheet RiverLink s Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan consolidates 20 years of planning for the redevelopment of the urban riverfront corridor, and has been adopted by the city of Asheville, Buncombe County, regional planning groups and over 40 civic organizations as the vision for a revitalized riverfront. The Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan is a 17-mile greenway linking the French Broad and Swannanoa Rivers is a demonstration project for the watershed and a once in a generation opportunity to transform Western North Carolina s rivers into a world class destination for residents and visitors to live, work, and play. into a continuous greenway with walking and biking trails anchored on the south by the NC Arboretum, on the east by the Blue Ridge Parkway and on the north by UNCA. The New Belgium Brewery will be a central anchor along the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay. A greenway is proposed through the New Belgium site connecting from French Broad River Park to Craven Street and the RiverLink Bridge, connecting west Asheville neighborhoods to the River Arts District. Additionally, links along the French Broad River in the River Arts District are to be expanded in the near future. Contact: Nancy Hodges waterresources@riverlink.org Phone: ext.14 P.O Box Asheville, NC