Joyner Park bioretention research provides valuable lessons along Tar River |
The Tar River is Louisburg, N.C.'s main drinking water supply. “Our whole history is based on the Tar River,” says C.L. Gobble, Louisburg town manager. So when Joyner Park was built adjacent to the river in 2003, Gobble saw improved water quality as a main initiative. Gobble believes that the 90-acre park marries the environmental park concept — nature trails that wind through forested areas and riverside buffers -- with playgrounds, picnic shelters, soccer fields and other recreational spaces for townsfolk. Naturally, the town happily received a North Carolina Cooperative Extension agent’s idea of Best Management Practice bioretention areas in the park for water quality, research and educational purposes. “Mainly, the BMPS are a statement on what this whole project is about,” says Gobble.
‘Mainly, the BMPS are a statement on what this whole project is about.’ – C.L. Gobble, Louisburg city manager
Bill Lord, Cooperative Extension area environmental education agent, says there was an immediate justification for placing a BMP demonstration site near the Tar River. “We need sites in the Tar basin for these different practices to show people what they look like, how they work and that they can look good,” he says. So Extension and NC State University’s Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department retrofitted two parking lots by converting two park landscape islands to bioretention research sites. The stormwater professionals found that a new type of custom sand/clay soil mix or “ball-field mix,” is perfect for bioretention beds. This soil, provided by Wade Moore Equipment Co., is specially made baseball infields. “It’s extremely low in phosphorous, which is what we’re looking for,” says Lord. “We’ve learned to be more particular about the soils we use in these things.” The $12,000, BMP retrofits, constructed in 2003, were funded by an Environmental Protection Agency 319 grant for water quality demonstration work. The state Division of Water Quality administered the funds.
Site monitoring begun in June 2004 continues for two years. “The main purpose of monitoring water quality at Joyner Park is to compare it to other sites,” says Lucas Sharkey, NC State BAE graduate research assistant, who takes water-quality samples to show pollutant concentrations. Joyner Park BMP construction and research taught stormwater professionals many lessons. For instance, in an attempt at aestheticism, says Lord, workers planted perennials in the bioretention bed. But since bioretention is meant to be a low-nutrient environment, perennials grow poorly. He suggests planting trees and shrubs suited to the soil used in the BMP.
Louisburg officials learned their own lessons as part of the process that gets such BMPs installed. “Everyone can see that parking lots can work with water quality if they’re managed and designed well. The success of this has made us aware that we can do more of this in future projects,” says Gobble. Visit Joyner Park, off U.S. 401 in Louisburg. Follow Main Street across the river bridge to the Perry Road entrance on your right.
For information: Bill Lord, 919.496.3344, or william_lord@ncsu.edu -- Lilly Loughner |
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