OC Public Works Glassell Campus Stormwater Low Impact Development Retrofit Project

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

OC Public Works recently completed construction of the Glassell Campus Stormwater Low Impact Development (LID) Retrofit Project (Project) at its 9.4-acre complex in north Orange County, California, comprising of office and warehouse buildings and a public works maintenance yard. Prior to the Project, over 90% of the Campus was impervious surface and extensive stormwater runoff left the site containing elevated levels of heavy metals, sediment, and bacteria. OC Public Works applied for and received a $2.9 million Proposition 84 stormwater grant for the Project from the State of California with the $1.7 million balance from local matching funds. The Project is designed and built to achieve 100% stormwater treatment and 85% retention for the design storm (up to almost 1 inch of rainfall in a 24-hour period) using a series of LID practices including cisterns, permeable paving, and bioswales (with native and drought-tolerant plants). The intent is to remove 95% of the pollutants, capture up to 2 million gallons of stormwater per year for onsite irrigation, and recharge 500,000 gallons of stormwater per year to regional groundwater. The Project also serves as a regional education center for stormwater and sustainability with brochures, web pages, and a dedicated walking tour with educational panels. In the 3 months since construction was completed, over 30 groups have toured the Project, including K-12 and college students, the general public, researchers, and governmental and private sector stormwater practitioners. The Project has already inspired work on similar retrofitting projects within Orange County. The Project also incorporates a number of monitoring and research elements into its design to allow studies into the efficacy and long term performance of the LID practices. It is currently part of two National Science Foundation funded research projects being carried out by local academic institutions.