Earlier in the academic year, did your route along campus change? Were you walking towards Harmon, Hoben, or Olds Upton, and find yourself taking an unexpected detour thanks to a construction project? You were noticing the recent storm water management project at the northeast corner of the quad, right outside Olds Upton!

Stormwater runoff is rain or melting snow that accumulates and flows over the landscape.  Ideally this flow is reabsorbed into the earth, but human changes to the landscape, like sidewalks and roads, can prevent reabsorption.  This flow can become contaminated when it is not properly managed, and that contamination can enter our waterways.  This simple act of flowing over a street can pick up lubricants, coolants, detergents and other chemicals from automobiles.

Unmanaged stormwater can cause flooding, erosion, sedimentation in waterways, loss of habitat for wildlife, and sewer system overflows.  Storm water retention and detention are ways of dealing with run off that can prevent the storm sewer system from becoming overwhelmed.  There are examples of both on our campus.  Joel’s Pond at the Athletic Complex is a retention pond, it absorbs fluctuations in precipitation and has the added benefit of providing a habitat for wildlife.  Have you ever seen the heron that stops by for a drink? 

In more densely developed areas, underground detention structures are used to absorb these fluctuations by releasing water more slowly to the stormwater infrastructure.  This can also an opportunity for solids in the water to settle out before entering the system.  Stormwater management systems are engineered specifically for each situation, considering nearby buildings, infrastructure, topography and local climate. 

 Flooding in that Olds Upton has been an intermittent problem for decades.  Climate change exacerbated the problem, with heavy rains causing several flooding events a year over the past five years.  A storm water management system was engineered to address the issue.  The solution involved reshaping the earth, removing and relaying the sidewalk to direct the water to a series of detention structures that eventually outflow directly to the city’s storm sewer.  The area was re-landscaped with native plantings.  As an added bonus, the accessible parking space was re graded to make a less severe slope for ease of use.  Given the campus’ eastern border is a creek that feeds directly into the Kalamazoo river, it is even more important that we think sustainability about how we develop.  This is why on-going stormwater management is an important goal in our Climate Action Plan.  

Written by Susan Lindemann, edited by Emerson Wesselhoff