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To Green or Not to Green? Evaluation of Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Kansas City Middle Blue River Project
Citation:
Bambic, D., D. O'Bannon, R. Pitt, J. Wright, AND M. Simon. To Green or Not to Green? Evaluation of Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Kansas City Middle Blue River Project. Presented at World Environmental & Water Resources Congress 2013, Cincinnati, OH, May 19 - 23, 2013.
Impact/Purpose:
A pilot project to measure and evaluate the performance of green infrastructure
Description:
The City of Kansas City, Mo., Water Services Department is implementing a pilot project to measure and evaluate the performance of green infrastructure. Information obtained through this pilot project will be used to guide the design of green solutions throughout Kansas City under its Overflow Control Plan. Through the Advanced Drainage Concepts project, USEPA is collaborating with the Water Services Department to quantify green infrastructure performance under a variety of runoff conditions. The project is quantifying performance at two scales: site-scale (individual BMPs) and pilot-scale (the entire 100-acre area). Site-scale project elements include stormwater monitoring systems at eight individual BMPs in the pilot area (rain gardens, bioretention cells, and smart drains). Parameters measured by deployed monitoring systems include inflow, infiltrated volume, bypassed flow, and drawdown times. In addition, a subset of BMPs is being monitored for water quality (loading reduction) parameters including particle size, bacteria, nutrients, and metals. At the pilot-scale, flow monitoring systems are deployed at four locations to measure flow rate, depth, and velocity in the combined sewer systems. The pilot-scale data were used to develop hydrologic models, as described in separate abstracts by Robert. Pitt (WinSLAMM) and Michelle . Simon (SUSTAIN). This paper describes the approach and outcomes of the site-scale, individual green BMP monitoring. The results of this project support national stormwater quality improvement efforts by quantifying the volume and pollutant reduction performance of green infrastructure. The fact that data are representative of both site- and pilot-scales makes the findings relevant to wide variety of participants, including stormwater, regulatory, academic, and non-governmental organizations.
