As many Cincinnati residents learned this spring, the Queen City has a runoff problem.
An antiquated sewer and rainwater management system and natural growth as an urban area have combined to produce a problem for many locals when the rain hits. Many areas are inundated with rainwater that overloads too-small pipes and channels, and sewer overflow systems, overwhelmed by excess water, dump pollution into the area's creeks and rivers.
The
Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, or MSD, is in the first phase of a citywide series of public works projects designed to counter this runoff problem. Dubbed "
Project Groundwork," the initiative has three major goals: Along with reducing - or eliminating - sewage overflows and backups, the project aims to be a job creation magnet that helps revitalize the region through its forward-thinking solutions. And that third goal of this $3 billion-plus project wears a very green hat.
Many of the rainwater control strategies being evaluated for Project Groundwork projects include very environmentally conscious features. Green roofs and tree - or flowerboxes, for example, replace impervious surfaces with absorbent soil. Rain that would pour off a shingle roof in sheets is absorbed, with excess water released into the runoff control system at a measured, more controllable rate. Likewise, water management areas such as runoff basins and swales provide more soil to absorb runoff, and can be designed in such a way that they hold excess water in places where it can safely evaporate.
These green features have an additional benefit: the soil and vegetation act as a natural filter, cleaning silt and some pollutants out of the runoff before it hits the area's waterways. Plus, there are few people in Cincinnati who will declare an old parking lot or industrial site more beautiful than greenspace punctuated by the low hills of a retention pond.
The green options are not the only items on the table for runoff control, explains Dan Martin, PE, an engineer and project manager with Cincinnati-based civil engineering and design firm
RA Consultants.
"There are two approaches, and they're not mutually exclusive," he says. "You can build larger pipes," thus increasing the system's capacity, "and you can look for opportunities to build in green improvements."
The combination of traditional and green technology varies with any public works project, he adds.
"It comes down to economic, social and environmental factors," he says. While a certain location might be best served by new, larger sewer pipes, it may be overly difficult to replace them if they run under the busiest streets in the neighborhood. An alternative might be to divert water to greenspace that can absorb the load, and then work with property owners to install green roofs that control the water flow from the top down.
"You have to look at each project differently. Each one's got its own spin on how to make it work," he says.
The first phase of the Project Groundwork projects, projected to cost $1.1 billion, began in 2009 and is expected to be complete by 2018. Its projects span 19 neighborhoods in Cincinnati, and range from traditional construction projects focused on adding more runoff capacity to multi-year studies on which green alternatives may be effective in various parts of upcoming projects.
There will be more than 300 construction projects in the entire course of Project Groundwork. Many of the 71 initial projects are in the neighborhoods surrounding the flood-prone Mill Creek Valley, but Project Groundwork will touch a number of communities, including Green, Springfield, and Symmes townships, the City of Cheviot, and 19 neighborhoods within the City of Cincinnati.
Kathy Schwab, executive director of the
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, says her organization is working to incorporate residents' voices in the planning of Project Groundwork projects.
"We were brought in because of the community engagement piece," explains Schwab. LISC facilitates community engagement in development projects. In this case, says Schwab, the organization is working to ensure that neighborhood residents have a say in how MSD addresses runoff issues in their home area. A larger sewer pipe may make the most sense for a given project, for example, but it might require overly disruptive construction in a local business district. Through LISC's support, neighbors might have the ability to work with MSD engineers to implement alternative plans that protect the neighborhood from congestion and headaches in the short term, and excess runoff in the long term.
One area where Schwab says she expect LISC will play a role is on the MSD's Lick Run basin project. The Lick Run basin, located in South Fairmount, is home to both an historic district - the oldest extant example of German Catholic settlement in West Cincinnati - and one of the MSD's targeted areas of runoff problems. By involving South Fairmount residents in the planning process, Schwab says the MSD project could do more than just control runoff. Basements that don't flood command better real estate prices, after all, and greenspace designed for water control has the added benefit of beautifying an area.
"This could be a very cool revitalization for the community," she says.
The Lick Run basin study has been underway since the mid 2000s, and several Project Groundwork projects will be in the works until the middle of this decade. In the long term, these solutions will add up to a major change for the city: areas where runoff, pollution and flooding now limit economic growth and affect quality of life could one day become vital, sustainable examples of a cleaner, better way to manage the flow when the rain hits.
Photography by Scott Beseler.
Sewer pipes ready for installation
Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) 5 in South Fairmount (image provided by MSD)
St. Francis Rain Garden (image provided by MSD)Groundwork project