STATESMAN JOURNAL
November 5, 2006 | By Beth Casper
Eco-Innovation: Pringle Creek Community Incorporates Bioswales to Manage Excess Storm Water
SALEM, Ore. – Architect James Meyer pours a coffee pot full of water on top of a new street at Pringle Creek Community. It doesn't run off toward the side of the road, where curbs typically would funnel it to a drain. The water disappears. Through tiny holes in the pavement, the water flows, trickles and drains — soaking into the soil below.
In a storm, excess water that doesn't seep into the streets will flow off the street and onto a strip of grass and other plants. At the corners of intersections, other plants and grasses will take up excess water — in areas called bioswales. According to federal and state experts, these are some of the best ways of dealing with stormwater runoff, which carries pollution to streams.
For the developers of Pringle Creek Community, a 32-acre residential and commercial development in South Salem, it is a point of pride that the site will create no extra stormwater for city pipes to handle. A typical development of this size would have a concrete pipe carry stormwater off the site and into nearby Pringle Creek, Meyer said.
Developer Don Myers said he sees Pringle Creek Community as a way of showcasing the best management practices for stormwater. In the center of the development, for example, a depressed area will provide a park-like setting for residents in the summer but will act as a water catchment area in the winter. And, similar to some of the projects in Portland, the design will treat stormwater as a beautiful part of the park: The stormwater detention basin will be called a reflective pool and be surrounded by aspen.
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