EROSION CONTROL NEWS
City of Waukee Prefers to be a 'Green' MS4
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City of Waukee
Prefers to be a 'Green' MS4
The City of Waukee, Iowa's fastest growing city,* has added a new distinction to their credit: the first MS4 in Iowa to issue a Letter of Preference for soft armor.
By stating their desire, City planners in Waukee are setting an environmental precedent to use vegetated swales and/or soft armor protection as the preferred solution to handle downstream runoff from water outlets, such as parking lots, overflow structures, pipes and culverts.
The city is introducing these proposed "green" solutions to site designers to support their efforts to:
Stormwater outfalls would be reinforced by transition mats (TMs) at potential scour areas and turf reinforcement mats (TRMs) in the channels. Equal alternatives for TMs and TRMs would also be considered based on performance standards and results verified through independent and third-party testing.
John Gibson, Director of Public Works, states in the letter that the city is "attempting to move in a different direction than rock rip rap at outfalls because of issues that evolve over time." He adds that "vegetated conveyances offer the best, most economical long term means of achieving their goals." The letter goes so far as to mandate that developers with plans to use hard armor protection practices must state their reasons why soft armor won't work.
For Gibson, drafting the Letter of Preference not only sets an example for other MS4s to draw from, but is another way the city is planning for the best interests of its citizens in the long run.
*"Top 10 Population Gains Among All Cities in Iowa" From the Summary of 2000?2007 Population, Changes in Iowa's Cities, by Liesl Eathington & Dave Swenson, Regional Capacity Analysis Program (ReCAP), Iowa State University. Posted 10/21/2008: http://www.recap.iastate.edu/briefingrooms/showitem.php?id=30.
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