2013 Issue

74 popular new splash pad. As such, the water collects hydrocarbons frommotor vehicles as well as fertilizers, pesticides, garbage and debris. These pollutants can have a detrimental impact on the ecosystem of our downstream waterways, as indicated by the negative impact to many sensitive indicator macroinvertebrate organisms within the Little Cottonwood Creek and Jordan River ecosystems. The health and safety of Utah’s waterways and the Great Salt Lake depend upon our ability to manage the quality of our storm- water runoff. Historically, public storm- water standards have been concerned primarily with limiting the quantity of stormwater discharge for the purpose of reducing downstream flooding potential. Our country has done a great job of install- ing infrastructure to collect, control and release stormwater to receiving waters, but often with less consideration towards water quality impacts. In recent years, the United States Envi- ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) has enacted regulations that address both the quantity and quality of stormwater dis- charges from new building development and redevelopment (USEPA, 2010). Tra- ditional design has focused on collecting stormwater and piping it underground to a local detention facility where the water can be released at a controlled rate to natural drainage channels. However, cap- turing stormwater upstream and applying low impact development (LID) practices to allow it to recharge the groundwater is more closely aligned with the historic hydrologic cycle. One such LIDmethod is bioremediation with a bioretention basin. Bioretention facilities collect stormwater and store it in a vegetated area with the intent of removing nutrients and pollut- ants before the water naturally filters into the ground. Bioretention systems are very common in areas of the country that receive between 30 to 80 inches of rain per year. These areas also have a number of design guidelines to put the science into practice. On the contrary, Utah’s arid climate with an an- nual rainfall of approximately 16 inches per year creates unique conditions that have not been studied. Quantifying the hydro- logic impacts of bioretention facilities on urban environments in semiarid climates, such as in Utah, is a field of study in which little progress has been made (NRC, 2008; Houdeshel et al., 2011). So, in lieu of a traditional stormwater detention system, Mountview Park has been constructed with a sophisticated bioretention facility hosting a number of native Utah plant species. A series of probes have been installed to monitor the infiltration and water quality impact so that the amount of phosphorous and nitrogen removal can be quantified. This research is being performed by the Urban Water Research Group at the University of Utah, led by John Heiberger with assistance from Dasch Houdeshel, Dr. Christine Pomeroy and Dr. Steve Burian. Their research hopes to address the following questions: Figure 1. Plant and Well Layout Figure 2. Cross-Section View of Bioretention Cell Science of Play | continued from page 73