A team of professors and students from the University of Connecticut (UConn) are helping five Connecticut towns with a plan to reduce storm water runoff.
According to Zip06 News, a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) will help achieve these plans for Branford, Clinton, Deep River, Guilford, and Madison.
In developed areas there is a lot of impenetrable ground cover including asphalt and concrete, and rain runs off the surfaces and into storm drains, then deposited into waterways. Michael Dietz, a water resources extension educator in the Department of Natural Resources & the Environment at UConn, is leading the project.
The team’s findings, which have been presented to Deep River and formalized in a final report, will be a key planning tool so that the towns can meet new requirements from the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) for storm water management.
“There are some storm water regulations that require the towns to disconnect some of this impervious cover and these reports will assist the towns in picking out the best areas to do this and the types of practices that would best be installed in those areas,” said Dietz, reported Zip06 News. “The goal is to serve this dual purpose, to be able to treat and infiltrate storm water, but also to look nice and be an amenity to the site.”
In Deep River, five municipal properties were identified as suitable for green storm water infrastructure improvements, which includes: rain gardens, permeable paving, and green roofs.
The NFWF grant funds can be used for the installation of green infrastructure in Deep River as well. In Deep River, the project would be implemented at one of the five properties: Deep River Public Library, Valley Regional High School, John Winthrop Middle School, Deep River Elementary School, or Deep River Town Hall.
UConn will develop a formal design plan to obtain a cost estimate from a contractor, and may finish the project this fall or next summer.
According to First Selectman Angus McDonald, the project complements Deep River’s existing efforts in managing its storm water to comply with requirements.
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