Difference between revisions of "LID opportunities in park lands"

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'''<h3>[[LID opportunities in parks]]</h3>'''  [[File:Example.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|The bioretention area installed at O’Connor Park
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#REDIRECT [[LID opportunities on public land]]
in Mississauga is part of a stormwater management system
 
that treats parking lot runoff prior to discharging to a local
 
wetland. (Source: CVC)]]
 
 
 
Parks range from simple parcels of municipal property to
 
complex outdoor recreational facilities that include parking,
 
sidewalks, trails, sports fields, field houses, operations
 
facilities, and washrooms. Each distinct area of your site can
 
be a source for runoff (referred to as a ‘source area’). These
 
areas should be targeted when introducing LID in your park.
 
<br>
 
'''<h4>Targeting hard surfaces</h4>'''
 
Hard surfaces like parking lots and internal driveways are the
 
most obvious areas to target for both stormwater quality and
 
water balance improvements. These features produce more
 
runoff than any other area on your site. Water quality of runoff
 
from parking lots and driveways is typically more polluted
 
than other source areas. Common water quality concerns
 
include sand and salt from winter de-icing operations, and
 
hydrocarbons (gasoline) and metals from vehicle breakdowns
 
Runoff from vegetated areas of parks will be relatively
 
clean and more closely match the natural water balance.
 
On municipal park properties, hard surfaces are usually
 
located adjacent to pervious areas such as lawns, gardens or naturalized areas. This makes an ideal location for a LID
 
retrofit. Where grading allows, you can construct bioswales
 
and bioretention areas in these green areas to pre-treat water
 
prior to infiltration.
 
You can also design parking surfaces and internal roadways
 
as infiltration systems using permeable pavement. This retrofit
 
strategy can be combined with other LID practices.
 
A pedestrian pathway paved with permeable pavement
 
is another LID option for your park. They will reduce runoff
 
volumes and encourage on-site infiltration. Pervious pipes
 
are a viable option on many parks sites as well. They can be
 
an alternative to conventional conveyance systems such as
 
storm sewers. They encourage infiltration from hard surfaces
 
and can be used to convey water to other LID features.
 
<br>
 
'''<h4>Accepting drainage from off-site areas</h4>'''  [[File:Example1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Urban parkettes may look small, but they have
 
the potential to treat a large surface area of road. Typical ratios
 
of impervious drainage area to bioretention range from 5:1 to
 
15:1. (Source: CVC)]]
 
 
 
Does municipally owned land drain into your retrofit site? If
 
so, this is an opportunity to provide stormwater controls for
 
these areas.
 
Roads are the most common source of runoff from external
 
properties into parks. Treating municipal road runoff in a park
 
requires planning input from municipal roads department
 
staff. For these projects, the team must understand how all
 
roads activities, including winter maintenance and potential
 
roadwork, will affect the operation of LID practices in the park.
 
<br>
 
'''<h4>Inter-municipal transfer of funds</h4>''' Integrating LID practices into the municipal stormwater management framework may change how municipal funds are managed. Traditional stormwater management maintenance resources and funds may have to be transferred to a more landscape-based stormwater management maintenance program. Instead of infrequent but expensive stormwater management pond sediment removal operations, time and resources will be spent on more frequent but inexpensive maintenance projects including pruning and weeding bioretention practices or sweeping permeable pavement.
 
Municipalities generally have the required staff and infrastructure within departments (e.g. arborist and horticulturalists in parks departments) to manage the maintenance of LID measures; however, funding this maintenance may require a transfer of funding and additional training.
 
The federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF) is another funding option for
 
funding LID retrofits. This is a federal transfer that provides
 
long term funding for municipalities to build and revitalize
 
public infrastructure. Up to 30% of municipalities yearly GTF
 
allotment can be used towards stormwater management.
 
<br>
 
'''<h4>Source Areas</h4>'''  [[File:Example3.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|The road surface (left) contributes significantly
 
more stormwater pollutants than the parkland area (right). To
 
achieve maximum watershed benefit a designer could consider
 
accepting runoff from this external area. (Source: CVC)]]
 
The LID option that best fits your site will depend what types
 
of source areas are present. Types of source areas include:
 
• Active use area
 
• Passive use area
 
• Pedestrian walkway
 
• Internal driveway
 
• Parking lot
 
On park sites, pollution prevention is often associated with
 
changes to operations and maintenance practices and has
 
not been included in Table 3.3.1. An aerial photo of a park
 
with each of these source areas accompanies Table 3.3.1.
 
Options and implementation strategies for a few of these
 
source areas will give you some ideas for your park site.
 
{| class="wikitable"
 
|colspan="9" style="text-align: center;|'''[[LID Options for Parks]]'''
 
|-
 
|style="background:cyan; color:black"| Source area ||style="background:cyan; color:black"|  Permeable pavement || style="background:cyan; color:black"| Bioretention || style="background:cyan; color:black"| Enhanced grassed swales || style="background:cyan; color:black"| Bioswales ||style="background:cyan; color:black"|  Soakaways and infiltration chambers ||style="background:cyan; color:black"|  Perforated pipe system || style="background:cyan; color:black"| Landscape alternatives ||style="background:cyan; color:black"|  Prefabricated modules
 
|-
 
| Active use area ||style="text-align: center;|** ||style="text-align: center;| o || style="text-align: center;|* || style="text-align: center;|* || style="text-align: center;|** || style="text-align: center;|* ||style="text-align: center;| o ||style="text-align: center;| o
 
|-
 
| Passive use area ||style="text-align: center;| o || style="text-align: center;|** || style="text-align: center;|** ||style="text-align: center;| ** || style="text-align: center;|** ||style="text-align: center;| ** || style="text-align: center;|** ||style="text-align: center;| **
 
|-style="text-align: center;|
 
| Pedestrian walkway || style="text-align: center;|** || style="text-align: center;|** ||style="text-align: center;| ** || style="text-align: center;|** || style="text-align: center;|** ||style="text-align: center;| * || style="text-align: center;|* || style="text-align: center;|o
 
|-
 
| Internal driveway || style="text-align: center;|** || style="text-align: center;|** ||style="text-align: center;| ** || style="text-align: center;|** || style="text-align: center;|** ||style="text-align: center;| ** || style="text-align: center;|o ||style="text-align: center;| *
 
|-
 
| Parking lot ||style="text-align: center;| ** || style="text-align: center;|** || style="text-align: center;|** || style="text-align: center;|** || style="text-align: center;|** || style="text-align: center;|** ||style="text-align: center;| o || style="text-align: center;|**
 
 
 
|-
 
!colspan="3" style="background:yellow; color:black"| '''** Common option'''
 
!colspan="3" style="background: orange; color: black"|'''* Possible option'''
 
!colspan="3" style="background: brown; color: white"|'''o Unlikely'''
 
|}
 
 
 
[[File:Example6.jpg|center]]
 
'''<h3>[[Making it happen: Approaches to getting LID into parks]] </h3>'''
 
 
 
The scale of your LID project will largely determine how you
 
will proceed. This guide provides two tiers of LID park retrofit
 
projects. You can usually complete small-scale LID projects
 
with in-house expertise and resources. Large-scale projects
 
will require external support from consultants and contractors.
 
 
 
'''<h4>Small-scale projects</h4>''' [[File:Example4.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|A no-mow zone is a landscape alternative that
 
does not require construction activities. (Source: Aquafor Beech)]]
 
Starting with small-scale projects is a good strategy to
 
increase public interest in LID practices, gauge municipal
 
support, and gain experience. Small-scale projects include
 
retrofitting your parks site with landscape alternatives or rain
 
barrels, or using pollution prevention strategies and practices.<br>
 
Small-scale projects require fewer resources and require a
 
smaller project budget because:
 
* They do not require integration into capital works projects
 
* Engineering consultants are not required
 
* Contractors may not be not required
 
* External approvals are not required
 
* Consultation with the public is limited
 
Due to the less significant financial commitment, it can be
 
easier to build colleague and supervisor support for small-scale
 
projects.<br>
 
Small-scale projects like landscape alternatives and pollution
 
prevention may not be easily identified as LID practices by
 
the public. Your project team should consider establishing
 
educational signage to inform the public.<br>
 
'''<h4>Large-scale projects</h4>'''
 
Large-scale projects require significantly more effort, budget,
 
and staff than small-scale projects. Large-scale LID projects
 
include:
 
*Bioretention
 
* Enhanced grass swales
 
* Bioswales
 
* Perforated pipe systems
 
* Permeable pavement
 
* Soakaways
 
* Infiltration chambers
 
* Rainwater harvesting (excluding rain barrels)
 
* Prefabricated modules <br>
 
Consider a large-scale project if your municipality or
 
department would like to be a leader in sustainability. Largescale
 
projects are often highly visible and attract more public
 
attention. Large-scale projects may also be the only solution to
 
site-specific challenges. For example, if the parking lot on your
 
site does not have existing stormwater controls, small-scale
 
projects are not likely to fully achieve compliance with water
 
quality and quantity objectives. Consider using an infiltration
 
chamber or bioswale project to meet those objectives.
 
Before starting a large-scale retrofit project, consider the
 
following distinctions that set these retrofits apart from smallscale
 
projects.<br>
 
'''<h4>Integration with capital works programs</h4>'''
 
Most large-scale LID retrofits must function with existing
 
site infrastructure, such as storm sewers, catch basins,
 
and pavement systems. The construction of large-scale
 
LID practices often requires these systems to be removed,
 
exposed, or replaced. The best time for this type of project to
 
occur is when an infrastructure replacement or rehabilitation
 
project is already planned.
 
For example, installing bioretention, infiltration chambers,
 
or permeable pavement in a parking lot requires removal of
 
existing pavement. Budget and resources set aside for parking lot replacement could be transferred to a retrofit project that
 
includes replacement of this infrastructure.<br>
 
'''<h4>Involvement of consultants and contractors</h4>'''
 
Consultants are required for large-scale retrofit projects,
 
specifically for the final screening of options, pre-design,
 
detailed design, tender and contract documents, construction
 
supervision and administration, and assumption and
 
verification. Site contractors are also required for large-scale LID retrofits.
 
Ideally, contractors should be pre-qualified based on previous
 
experience with similar LID projects.
 
<br>
 
'''<h4>More intensive public consultation</h4>'''
 
Stakeholders must be closely involved in the retrofit process
 
for large-scale LID projects. These projects have longer
 
construction windows, may have significant impacts on longterm
 
public use patterns of the park, and will cost significantly
 
more taxpayer dollars.
 
Gaining public insight in advance of LID implementation can
 
help address public concerns and information gaps, as well as
 
identify public supporters and champions. Public consultation
 
can help designers tailor the project to address community
 
concerns and values. [[File:Example5.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|When installing new parks equipment, consider whether the LID practices can be integrated into the design. Here a
 
bioswale has been built into the landscape between a playground and sidewalk. (Source: CVC)]]
 
'''<h4>External approvals</h4>'''
 
Large-scale park retrofits may require a variety of approvals
 
at the municipal, watershed, provincial, and/or federal level.
 
Since LID is still relatively new, you may encounter policies
 
or bylaws that present barriers to LID retrofit projects.
 
Alternatively, the municipality may have to enforce some
 
policies and bylaws to facilitate the implementation of LID
 
projects within parks.
 
'''<h4>Next Steps</h4>'''
 
After reading this chapter you should know how to select the
 
right LID practice for your site. You should also be familiar
 
with the details you need to consider before undertaking an
 
LID retrofit.
 

Latest revision as of 18:16, 15 March 2019