Background

 

Ag Heritage Park (AHP), a joint venture of the Auburn University College of Agriculture and the Agricultural Alumni Association, is located on approximately 30 acres at the southwest corner of Samford Avenue and Donahue Drive.  The purpose and vision of AHP, as its name may indicate, is to support the traditional agricultural community through education and outreach.  More information about the park can be found here.  The 93-acre watershed of AHP is characterized by a semi-urban environment (just south of the university), with a percent imperviousness of about 45%. Water routed from the outlet of AHP drains into the Parkerson Mill Creek (PMC).  PMC is designated as a ‘fish and wildlife’ stream (ACES, 2014).  However, the stream is listed on the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) ‘303(d) List of Impaired Waters’ for pathogen contamination in 2008 and 2010.  One potential solution that both facilitates the vision of the park and could improve the water quality and ecological value of AHP is a storm water wetland design.

 

The Clean Water Act of 1972 defined wetlands as “those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions” (CWA, 1972).  Wetlands are a natural solution to a consortium of environmental issues.  Moreover, wetlands are commonly used to restore or protect biological conditions in endangered or degraded regions and frequently appear in conservation areas.  As with all water bodies, wetlands have an associated waste assimilative capacity (WAC) that is available to treat a quantifiable pollutant loading. The creation of new wetlands increases the effective WAC therefore providing a greater capacity for pollution remediation (Tanka et al, 2011).  The terminology 'storm water wetland' implies a wetland established for the specific purpose of retaining and treating storm water.