SAND RIVER GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT

Over the past 15 years, the Sand River has been seriously eroded by stormwater discharges from downtown Aiken, S.C. For more than a decade, The Hitchcock Woods Foundation and the City of Aiken had been searching for a holistic approach to the restoration of the river that would balance the stormwater management with habitat preservation and restoration.

Through a $3.34 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the city along with Clemson University’s Center for Watershed Excellence and Woolpert implemented a plan to reduce the impact of the runoff by returning to the principles of how stormwater was treated decades ago—prior to the introduction of pavement, driveways and other pervious structures.

Throughout the city’s 105 acres of historic parkways and boulevards, the design utilizes bioswales, rain gardens, permeable paving and other low-impact development (LID) elements to collect runoff, reducing pollutants and the amount of water that runs from downtown to the Sand River. More than a dozen medians were reconfigured to capture and treat stormwater. Pervious concrete, asphalt and pavers, which absorb large amounts of rainfall, were also used to reconstruct streets and parking lots.

Members of the university’s center are monitoring representative installations to determine the effectiveness of the green infrastructure in retaining stormwater. The site was also selected as a pilot project for the Sustainable Sites Initiative™, a new program testing the nation’s first rating system for green landscape design, construction and maintenance.