Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
watersheds. Jersey City built a large reservoir in one such basin, the Rockaway
River, and currently withdraws some 42 million gallons per day as a raw water
source, which seemed suitable in a basin with a daily average rainfall of 291
million gallons per day. The river valley is also characterized as containing
a valley fill of glacially deposited material, forming an excellent groundwater
reservoir.
As the region has grown with its own suburban land use, the question of
how to accommodate this changing land cover and the related pollution load
generated by development has become an important issue. The 14 municipalities
that comprised a loosely affiliated watershed cabinet concluded that it needed to
develop a “sustainable watershed management plan” to protect the quality (and
quantity) of water resources within the basin for local use, independent of the use
of basin outflow by seemingly remote communities, many now aging, to the east.
Since the towns and townships that comprise the watershed residents are quite
different in character and form, each with its own set of zoning, development,
and land use regulations, the only common interest was the watershed. They
developed a set of goals (Figure B-14) that it is hoped will form the basis
of all future land use, and a strategy of stormwater management that required
infiltration, to assure that the critical aquifer system would be maintained into
the future (Figure B-15).
B.5 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Environmental Master Plan for the Main Campus and Mason Farm,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (2002-2004)
As a supplement to the campus master plan, Cahill Associates and Andropogon
Associates prepared an environmental master plan, intended to study the impact of
proposed development and redevelopment, funded under a state grant of $2 bil-
lion. The team examined the campus from the perspective of land and water
resources, and focused on achieving a balance between human uses and the nat-
ural resources of the 729-acre campus, within the sustainable limits of the natural
system. The plan examined the land use from a watershed perspective, with a
focus on impervious areas, historic and buried streams, and the natural hydrologic
balance on the campus (Figure B-16).
Chapel Hill is recognized for its harmonious blend of mountain and coastal
vegetation, from which an extraordinary garden community has emerged. Begin-
ning with the first building constructed in 1793, the central campus of the
university incorporated the significant groves of trees into its architectural beauty.
The intent of the plan was to reconnect the north and south campus areas with
their natural and vegetative systems.
Five creeks contribute to the drainage on both central campus and Mason Farm,
including Meeting of the Waters Creek, a historic stream that flows beneath much
of the campus, including the football stadium and other structures. The study
identified sustainable strategies to mitigate the increased flow and downstream
Search WWH ::
Custom Search