REDUCING STORMWATER

COSTS
WITH LOW IMPACT
DESIGNS
John Walton
 Reducing Stormwater Costs
with Low Impact Strategies
 Current stormwater engineering practices in
El Paso are based primarily on dated
designs from different climates and
landscapes
 Modern low impact designs focus on
distributed points of infiltration and
transpiration for reducing peak discharge
 Site specific designs that reflect the unique
geography and climate of the El Paso del
Norte Region are needed
 Modern designs can lower costs and increase
profits for developers while preserving the
environment and providing an improved
living experience

 Low Impact Design
Concepts
 Small scale controls mimic natural
hydrologic processes
 Directing runoff to natural areas
encourages growth of trees and
enhances infiltration
 Conservation preserves natural drainage
patterns
 Customized site design protects the
entire watershed
 cont


 Capturing runoff in small volumes helps to

prevent erosion, because the runoff is less
likely to reach damaging flow rates.
 The distribution of storage components also
tends to result in a more robust
stormwater management system, because
the failure of one component will not
cause the entire system to fail.
 A knowledge based approach that requires
full analysis of precipitation history
(drought is important for vegetation,
storms for flooding)
 Examples
 Bioretention: Vegetated depressions store water in
soil and provide reliable water for drought
resistant vegetation
 Tree box filters: curbside containers placed below
grade, covered with a grate and filled with sand
and soil, with tree planted in middle
 Infiltration trenches: fill areas with sorted gravel or
rock to capture and infiltrate runoff
 Permeable pavement: Asphalt or concrete that allows
infiltration
 Permeable pavers: manufactured paving stones
containing spaces where water can penetrate
 Disconnect impervious areas by directing runoff from
buildings and pavements onto lawns or other
vegetated areas
 Use weirs and check dams in swales
 El Paso Specifics
 Arroyos move water and sediment
 Peak discharge causes flooding, not total
water
 Peak shaving/averaging will reduce flooding,
big ponds are not needed but rather small
ponds that drain rapidly along with
distributed retention
 Blockage of arroyos by retention ponds
interrupts sediment flow, leading to
erosion downstream
 Retention ponds as specified by the city
constitute a waste of resources
 Rainwater capture and proper peak shaving
means that detention ponds (if still
needed) can be smaller, thereby wasting
 cont
 El Paso flooding:
 Rio Grande responds on time periods of days
 Arroyos respond in 10’s of minutes
 Arroyo flooding can be controlled by peak
smoothing (e.g., spread 30 minutes of
peak rainfall over 6 hours)
 Consider flow path of all water on roads and
buildings; strategically divert this flow to
retention areas
 (Capture area/ plant area) > 15 supports
vegetation with no watering in El Paso
climate

 Peak Shaving

Flash flood is spread over time

discharge

Leading to smoother hydrograph below

Natural hydrographs can be approximated

time
Example: bioretention
 Capture Zone
Impermeable areas concentrate water in vegetated areas
Consider that if rainfall is increased by 10X, El Paso has a lot
of water for watering trees.

capture area

native
plants

capture area/plant area > 15 for El Paso

 Streets
Stormwater periodically diverted to
shallow depressions
with native vegetation
El Paso Specific Designs
Example: porous pavement
with groundwater recharge
 Sediment Transport
 Sediment transport and erosion are related
 Water has a sediment carrying capacity that depends
upon velocity
 When the capacity to carry sediment is reached,
erosion stops
 When sediments are artificially removed from water
by ponding, downstream erosion is increased

 Resler Canyon Example
 Peak discharge increased by upsteam development
 Water comes in deficient in sediment
 Increased erosion visible ~1/2 mile below major
water inputs to canyon
Upstream
development
can cause
increased
erosion
downstream
from a)
increased
peak
discharge
and/or
b) sediment
“hungry”
water
Resler Canyon
New developments in El Paso
would
 Use less city water since landscaping would be
watered by rain
 Have more vegetation
 Increase groundwater recharge
 Not increase downstream runoff or erosion
 Be more profitable
 References
 http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/lid/costs07/
 www.epa.gov/npdes/greeninfrastructure
 www.epa.gov/nps/lid
 UFC 3-210-10 Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC)
Low Impact Development Manual
 (note: some bullets and images were cut and pasted
directly from these sources)
Backup Slides