When HIV Alliance moved to their new location directly adjacent to Amazon Creek on City View, the 12,000 square foot parking lot was in severe disrepair. Their realtor, Justin Schmick with Windermere Realty, was familiar with the Trout Friendly Landscape Program, so he connected with the Council to see if we could help with the site revitalization.
The parking lot had been designed with a planting strip down the middle which was reconfigured into a 520 square foot linear rain garden, and the entire parking lot regraded so it drained centrally into that rain garden.
There were also several planting beds that had gone fallow, so as part of their new Trout Friendly Landscape, we revitalized those spaces, planting them up with native and native compatible plantings.
The enthusiastic site volunteer coordinator maintains the landscape and trains all new employees on how they are not only reducing the pollutant loading in the creek, they are also providing pollinator habitat and reducing the heat coming off that parking lot through new tree plantings. This enthusiasm is what made HIV Alliance project owner of the year in 2018.
Restoration Techniques
- Detention Pond and Swale: Capture and treat all of the stormwater from the entire four-acre site before overflowing into the adjacent Amazon Creek
- Tree Preservation and Planting: Provides a wildlife corridor between Amazon Creek and the adjacent wetlands in addition to providing additional stormwater management and urban heat island mitigation.
- Rain Garden: Provides pre-treatment for the stormwater from 1/2 of the primary parking lot. Regardless of the twice daily vehicle leak checks, brakes and tires are a significant source of zinc which has been shown to kill salmon within minutes of exposure. It has also been shown that rain gardens are the cheapest and most effective method of removing heavy metals and other pollutants from stormwater.
The completed rain garden offers both environmental and economic benefits including:
- Reduction of urban pollutants – especially heavy metals and pesticides, from entering Amazon Creek
- Reduction of erosion – stream bed and bank erosion contribute to sedimentation of the stream
- Improved instream water quality – benefits fish, amphibians, and macro-invertebrates
- Wildlife habitat integration – native plantings into the urban framework benefit local song birds, pollinators, and wildlife
- Distinctive signage – highlights the sight as an example of Trout Friendly Landscaping, educating passersby, visitors, and employees