Will detention ponds soon be a thing of the past?
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MCBDD BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Scott Stevens Vice President: Susan Severa Past President: Jerry Hayley Directors: Rose Casanova Tim Hardin Michael McNall Kevin Tokarski
Article by 2010 Montgomery County Builders & Developers Division President Scott Stevens of Stoecker Corporation.
MONTGOMERY CO. DIVISION NEWS
Low Impact Development: The Wave of the Future?
T
he other day, I got a call from a friend of mine in the landscape architecture
business. I figured he was calling to tell me that business was slow and to see if I could spot him a twenty for lunch money. But instead he wanted to talk to me about a pretty interesting project he’s working on in conjunction with a local civil engineer to promote what is being coined, “Low Impact Development” hydrologic techniques. This is pretty interesting stuff because one of the primary goals is to essentially do away with the large, costly, ugly holes in the ground we call detention ponds and replace them with a network of small, shallow swales called “bioretention cells” to accomplish the same task, with the added benefit of filtering the stormwater in the process.
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Now, I don’t mean to sound like a cold, hard capitalist land developer who is driven solely by the almighty dollar…uhm, well, but I am one. But because I am, what I like about this new-fangled design is that I can incorporate some of these biorentention cells into my greenbelts to do the job of a detention pond. That means that I may be able to reclaim some of that detention pond land for lot construction. You know, the part of land development that actually provides a return on investment.
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By the way, my landscape architect friend is Kolby Davidson with Davidson Landscape Architecture, LLC and the engineer he’s working with is Edminster, Hinshaw and Russ. Kolby went on to explain that these biorentention cells are designed in such a way as to slow down stormwater runoff with the use of native grasses and plants that also help to filter and cleanse the stormwater of impurities. These cells are also designed with layers of sieved sand and perforated pipe that work together to detain, filter and direct the stormwater through the project and ultimately to the drainage outfall where it leaves your site. And all this without leaving a big hole in the ground or in your wallet. According to Kolby, a Low Impact Development system will cost approximately the same as or possibly less than a conventional stormsewer system, not counting the cost of the detention pond you don’t have to build.
So about this time in the conversation, I’m thinking, “Sign me up! I’m all over it.” Well, now for the rest of the story…
As you might be thinking, this nifty idea may sound great, but there are a few folks that have to be convinced it will work, namely our cities and counties, not to mention the TCEQ. (MUD reimbursements come to mind.) This
AUGUST 2010 | HOUSTON BUILDER | GREATER HOUSTON BUILDERS ASSOCIATION – BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE
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