Water expert wants to study effect of low-impact development on creek

Could the answer to erosion and pollution in Fountain Creek be as simple as changing building techniques in Colorado Springs?

A water expert from Colorado State University wants to launch a program to find out.

Low-impact development has gained in popularity in some parts of the country but is largely unknown here. The practice uses landscaping techniques, porous pavement and other elements to keep rainwater on the land and out of storm drains -and ultimately out of Fountain Creek.

Engineering studies have shown the amount of impervious surface in Colorado Springs - streets, buildings, parking lots and other surfaces that prevent rain from soaking into the ground - make Fountain Creek flow fast, resulting in erosion and occasional flooding downstream. The fastmoving runoff also carries sediments and heavy metals that damage the creek.

Perry Cabot, an engineer with CSU Extension in Pueblo who formerly worked for developers, is seeking a $118,000 federal grant to set up demonstration sites in Colorado Springs, develop guides for builders and help officials write landmanagement codes that encourage these development techniques and, in some cases, require them.

He has the backing of U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, the Pueblo Stormwater Utility and other water experts.

"It's going to rain no matter what," Cabot said. "We want to direct that water into the soil matrix, rather than have it go right over the surface, on its way to the creek."

Historically, Fountain Creek was much smaller and dry part of the year. It now runs year-round, at a much greater rate, and many sections are damaged from sedimentation and heavy metals.

Among the recommendations of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study of Fountain Creek last year was a move to low-impact development in the watershed.

Low-impact development is meant to mimic the runoff of the land before it was developed. Rain gardens are at low points on a property, with porous soil and certain plants. Porous pavement is designed to suck rain to the dirt below. Bioswales are foliage-covered drainage ditches undercut with permeable soil.

The practices are gaining widespread use in the eastern U.S., but Cabot wants to find out if they would work in the arid climate of the Front Range.

"We have to adapt them to this climate," said Dennis Maroney, director of the Pueblo Stormwater Utility, who supports Cabot's project. "We just can't take something from the East Coast, bring it in and expect it to work in Colorado."

Rainstorms can be much more intense here, in short bursts on summer afternoons. The ground is more arid and doesn't absorb as much water. And antiquated water laws prohibit property owners from detaining rainwater beyond the natural runoff rate - it legally belongs to downstream water rights holders.

Bobby Ingels, a developer and board president of the Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs, said many builders here know of low-impact concepts through trade publications and conventions.

Many new subdivisions have clustered homes, with large areas of open space to hold runoff, he said. But he questioned the value of requiring other concepts such as porous pavement.

"A lot of the soils we have here don't work for that. The water doesn't percolate into the soil at a rate that provides much of a benefit," he said.

"If it doesn't perform, there's no reason to drive the cost of a lot or a home up by spending the extra dollars it costs to provide that," he said.

Cabot's program also involves public relations - setting up demonstration sites, holding workshops for developers and local planning officials, and writing technical manuals for low-impact development.

He acknowledged there may be resistance. Low-impact development techniques are more expensive and often mean leaving more surface area undeveloped. Unlike other "green" building techniques, there isn't an immediate benefit of energy efficiency.

Though he said he hopes builders would adopt such techniques out of a "stewardship ethic," he said he would like to see the practices made mandatory, at least for new developments.

"That's how you get a lot of infrastructure for stormwater anywhere. They're just required to do it," he said.

Though it's not mandatory, developers can use some low-impact development concepts now, said Lisa Ross, a Colorado Springs stormwater engineer.

Most, though, opt for the traditional measures of pipes and detention ponds to control runoff, Ross said.

"It just takes time to get into a new program and to get people to do it properly," she said. "We need to work with people to make sure they are properly constructed and maintained.

While Cabot doesn't plan to push for low-impact concepts to be made mandatory in Colorado Springs, he would like to see them required in new annexed developments.

Cabot hopes for a response on the grant request from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this year.