Identifying and evaluating opportunities for improved stormwater management
The 330-acre Capitol Area District in downtown Saint Paul is home to the Minnesota State Capitol. With several large redevelopment and capital improvement projects being planned for the area, the Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD), in partnership with the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board (CAAPB), hired Barr and Young Environmental to help understand the area’s water quality and quantity challenges and to identify green infrastructure opportunities for improved stormwater management. These included the potential for district stormwater management systems, which capture and manage stormwater across multiple properties.Barr performed an existing conditions analysis that showed most of the land within the Capitol Area receives no stormwater treatment, nearly 70 percent is covered in hard surfaces, and a sizable portion of runoff flows into the nearby Mississippi River untreated. We helped facilitate a stormwater workshop with project stakeholders, including small-group discussions of water quality and quantity issues and opportunities for innovative stormwater management. Using outcomes from the workshop, Barr helped develop a set of stormwater management goals and guidelines for future projects, followed by the siting and development of conceptual designs for four district stormwater systems.Barr developed stormwater modeling and completed a triple-bottom-line analysis to evaluate the environmental, social, and financial benefits for each of the four proposed district stormwater systems. Then, working with the CAAPB on the Capitol Mall Design Framework project, Barr helped advance the stormwater concepts with a focus on the Capitol Mall.For more information about this effort, see CRWD’s webpage about the project.