Problem
The Irish Farm neighborhood is situated within a stormwater impaired watershed (Bartlett Brook ). The residential neighborhood’s existing stormwater system consists of a stormdrain and drainage pipe network that empties into one of three separate detention basins. These basins were constructed prior to the State of Vermont’s adoption of modern requirements related to the detention and treatment of stormwater.
Description
In 2020, the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) awarded the City a grant to evaluate the neighborhood and prepare an engineering design for retrofit of the existing detention basins. The City and Stone Environmental developed designs to retrofit the detention basins into subsurface gravel wetlands.
Benefit
Retrofit of the Irish Farm Detention Basins will provide improved treatment for 6.7 acres of impervious surface within the impaired watershed of Bartlett Brook.
In addition, these stormwater treatment practices detain excess volumes of stormwater runoff and slowly release water to the brook. This helps prevent erosion of stream banks and reduce the risk of downstream flooding.