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Natural Systems and Sustainability

The Indian Creek WatershedDried Indian Creek is downtown covington’s most valuable natural resource and serves as downtown Covington’s initial stormwater treatment faciltiy. The Creek is not a facility at all it is a natural form of infrastructure. The creek’s watershed encompasses all of downtown Covington and some of the surrounding neighborhoods. The sustainability and vitality of the downtown covington area coincides with the health and sustainability of the creek. The masterplan for the future growth of the government center should incorporate green building strategies including those that enhance water quality while providing a quality place to live and work. In planning the government center we tried to create a balance between the natural systems of the site and the building footprint that is to go throughout the site. In planning for buildings and other structures we comformed to the drainage patterns of the land so that they create a system that works along side nature. The Dried Indians creeks riparian bufferwas something we wanted to enhance. We wanted to enhance it because the floodplain of the creek was so close to many existing structures such as city hall. By concentrating our efforts in protecting the health of the creek we will provide the city with a sustainable plan for future growth.

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The Dried indian Creek Watershed emcompasses all of downtown covington and some outlying neighborhoods. The green stormwater infrastructure is the creek and the man made infrastructure incorporates all of the other structures. Our challenge was to blend the man made infrastructure with the natural green system of stormwater management.

Photo from Downtown Masterplan

Photo from downtown masterplan

Photo from downtown masterplan

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Our plan calls for a green way connecting the emory street corridor with the pace street corridor. The design of the greenway incorporates the newly constructed wetland. The constructed wetland is on the north side of the present day city hall building and east of Emory Street. The original plan for the constructed wetland designates a boardwalk to be built connecting emory street to the wetland. We decided to expand on that idea and create a whole passive recreational park area connecting the wetland to PAce Street by way of walking trails. The design of the boardwalk tries to bring the viewer in close proximity of the wetland ecosystem. The boardwalk makes a half loop through the wetland and engages visitors with the plants and wildlife that will eventually inhabit the wetland. The boardwalk is meant connect to the proposed indian creek greenway, which will run the whole length f the Indian creek riparian zone. The greenway incorporates a series of winding trails for running or biking. There is also a side of the greenway that connects the population to the more urbanised side of the city. This side containes more urban type of park areas.

Greenway Masterplan

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Wetland Boardwalk

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Site KeyDried Indian Creek Wetland

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Water Quality

Street model produced by Cesar Cuenca, student (ASLA)

photo from ASLA.org photo from ASLA.org

Diagram of rainwater falling on the street

A series of measures are integrated into the master plan to preserve and improve water quality. The system of stormnwater management is integral to improving water quality and protecting the infrastructure of the urban area. Smart stormwater management is more cost effective in the long run. The installation of stormwater bioswales along the sidewalks of specific streets treat stormwater at the site level and are an asthetic amenity to the streetscape. The stormwater bioswales will incorporate overflow storm drains in case the rain fall exceeds the bioswales capacity. Stormwater bioswales are called many different names in different literature but for our overall consinstency we will refer to them as stormwater bioswales. The bio in bioswales is for the biological activity and plant life that will take place in the structure. The swale refers back to the traditional method of managing stormwater on streets and highways.Bioswales are planted with native wetland

plants that can handle periods of inundation and prolonged wet conditions. Bioswales aid in many key ecological functions. They are listed below in order of importance to humans.

- Reduce impact on stormwater infrstructure further reducing maintanence costs.

- Provides cleansing of water by natural means before dumping into creek.

- Aids in groundwater infiltration important for supplying water for underground aquifers

- Provides a natural aesthetic element to the streetscape.

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Wetland Boardwalk Plan by Cesar Cuenca Student ASLA

Wetland park in China Photo From ASLA.org

Wetland Park The Wetland Boardwalk in the greenway master plan can serve as a small scale wertland park. It can serve as an educational resource for the residents by informing them about water quality and supply issues facing Georgia. The wetland boardwalk/park will connect to the originally proposed plan for the Indian creek greenway and subsequentially the Government Green Corridor which we are also proposing. Wetland boardwalks are structures that succesfully engage visitors directly with the wetland environment in a safe and ecologically friendly manner. By getting people closer to the wetland it gives the impression that wetlands aren’t wastelands, but rather important biological entities that provide us with their services. Construction of the wetland can be done with treated wood or with wood composite materials. While wood composite is more expensive, it has a longer life span. There are many succesful examples of wetland boardwalks as well as an entire field of

construction that focuses solely on building wetland structures. Construction of wetland boardwalks is generally expensive but it benefits of enducation and sustainability greatly outway these issues.

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Sustainability The sustainability program calls for a series of green and best management practices to be incorporated into the master plan to have a sutainable product in the end. Not only will a sustainable system be in place to enhance the health of the environment but certain buildings will benefit more and benefit the whole system as a whole more than others. For exmaple buildings with the most square footage should incorporate green roofs more than smaller buildings. This will have a greater impact on the entire site as a whole. The new city hall and civic center shoud both have greenroof infrastructure on them.

Green Roofs

Green roofs add to the value of buildings and enhance the infrstructure by reduccing stormwater runnoff therefore helping alleviate sewer treatment.

Stormwater Bioswales help to treat stormwater at the source and help in the infiltration process. They also add aesthetic appeal to the streetscape.

Wetland Buffer

Part of the masterplan was to put in place a green way buffer park for the Dried Indian creek. In addition to the constructed wetland it will serve as a water filter and and emergency flood protection measure. The goal is that all the water that eventually ends in the creek’s water flow will be as clean or cleaner than it was when it fell to the ground.

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