Lexington, KY - To help improve storm water management and raise awareness about local water issues, Lexington is launching its second round of storm water project grants, with $1.2 million to fund storm water initiatives by local institutions, businesses and community organizations.
In 2006, University of Kentucky pharmacy student Lauren Fannin and UK nursing school graduate Lindsey Harp drowned after being swept away in a torrent of rainwater surging across Nicholasville Road near Alumni Drive. The tragedy gave Lexington a jolt of urgency to the matter of better understanding and managing its storm water system.
Ryan Kelly, an Associate Professor of geology at Bluegrass Community and Technical College, analyzed the terrain and construction upon it, concluding that extensive impermeable surfaces in the area contributed significantly to the flood conditions that led to the deaths of Fannin and Harp (to see Kelly's analysis: http://tinyurl.com/2006Storm). That fact, in conjunction with the recently enacted EPA Consent Decree concerning Lexington's waste water management has brought storm water issues sharply into focus across the city in recent years.
To address the need for improvements, LFUCG introduced the Stormwater Quality Projects Incentive Grant Program, funded by the newly instituted water quality management fee, in 2010. In that first year, more than $1.5 million in grants were awarded to 23 recipients composed of schools, businesses and neighborhood or community organizations. Those grants, ranging from $2,500 to more than $320,000, are currently underway in fiscal year 2011 and are intended to "improve water quality, reduce storm water runoff, and/or involve or educate the public on these issues," according to LFUCG Division of Water Quality municipal engineer Susan Plueger. The city is currently preparing to launch its second round of grants for fiscal year 2012, which begins in July.
"Not many cities around the country have instituted this kind of program," said Plueger, who recently spoke about the LFUCG grant program at a green education event hosted by Bluegrass Pride.
More than $4 million in requests were made for the competitive grant program in its first year, Plueger said. The city's water quality fees board oversees all projects, and the grant applicants work with engineering firms, which either contribute their time on a pro bono basis or get reimbursed when the application gets funded.
Scott Southall is vice president with CDP Engineers, which is currently working on two projects that were awarded grants in 2010. One of those projects is at the Ronald McDonald House, a nonprofit organization located near the UK campus and close to the head of the Wolf Run Watershed, which he described as the most heavily impacted stream in Lexington's watersheds.
"If more businesses along these watersheds adopted these types of practices we'll be implementing here, it would greatly help to improve water quality in Lexington," he said.
Southall said that nearly 16,000 square feet of impermeable asphalt at the Ronald McDonald House will be replaced with permeable asphalt and permeable concrete paver, allowing for water infiltration into the ground along the entire drive surface. Downspouts from the building will be disconnected from the storm water system and diverted to rain barrels and permeable surfaces. A 4,500-square-foot bio swale, or rain garden, will help to absorb and clean water, trapping sediments and bio-remediating pollutants. Southall said that the changes will enable the property to retain the water from a 100-year-storm event, defined in this region as 6.5 inches of rainfall in 24 hours, which statistically in a given year has a one in 100 chance of occurring.
"Every gallon of water we can collect and use or infiltrate into the ground at the location where it falls is one less gallon we have to convey in a constructed storm water system," said Cheryl Taylor, commissioner of environmental quality and public works for the city. "A few gallons may not sound like a lot, but if every home or business captured and reused water during each rain event, we have collectively saved the cost of transferring the water through a constructed system. It adds up. Individual actions do matter."
Projects qualifying for grants fall into either Class A grants (neighborhoods) or Class B grants, which were split out as either education-focused or infrastructure-focused projects.
Last year, 10 Class A grants were awarded to neighborhood associations and other community organizations. Projects included stream clean-up and rehabilitation, rain gardens, pond enhancement, permeable pavement, rain barrels and stream water analysis.
Six Class B Education projects brought education and involvement in water issues to students, the public or employees. Seven grants went to Class B infrastructure projects, the Ronald McDonald House project described above being one of them. Businesses with projects that reduce impervious surface area by 2,500 square feet or greater will also benefit from a reduced water quality management fee, as that fee (for businesses, not residential properties) is calculated based on the amount of impervious surface on the business property.
In addition, a new category, feasibility studies, has been added to Class B grant options for this year's program. Program funding amounts to $1.2 million this year, with $200,000 going to Class A projects and $1 million to Class B projects. Applications for Class A projects will be available by April 11. Class B applications will be available in June. Application packets and information about deadlines, varying monetary levels of grants and matching fund requirements will be available online at lexingtonky.gov/waterquality, or contact the Division of Water Quality by phone at (859) 425-2400.