Completed bioretention facility along parking area at Park School in Baltimore, Maryland.

Stormwater Management, LLC was involved in the design and construction of a recent project, highlighted in the Baltimore Sun.  A parking lot along Moore’s Branch at the The Park School was identified by the Center for Watershed Protection as an ideal site for a retrofit project to help improve water quality. The project was completed in cooperation with the Center and the Jones Falls Watershed Association (now part of the Baltimore Water Alliance).

Moore’s Branch flows into the Jones Falls and ultimately into the Chesapeake Bay.  The parking lot was constructed before stormwater regulations were in place, and stormwater was able to flow directly into the adjacent stream, carrying pollutants and sediments.

Unmanaged stormwater flows off parking lot directly into Moore's Branch.

Unmanaged runoff from parking lot contains excess sediment which negatively impacts the stream quality.

Park School history teacher Daniel Jacoby successfully secured a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust.  With the help of matching funds from the school, Stormwater Maintenance, LLC was brought in to work with the school and community to design, permit, and construct a linear bioretention facility to capture and treat stormwater runoff  before it discharges into Moore’s Branch.

Employee installing geotextile in bottom of bioretention facility.

Underdrain installation.

Bioretention stone layer.

Planting media installed and monitoring well.

Grading completed along bioretention facility.

Stabilization in place, bioretention facility ready for planting.

Landscaping installed.

To stretch the limited budget, students and school and community volunteers provided their time, labor and materials to perform the final planting.

Student volunteers installing plants in bioretention facility.

This was a unique opportunity to provide our in-house engineering and construction services as well as get involved with a very dear to us cause.  It provides an outdoor classroom for students to learn about the environment and raise awareness of issues and help the students realize how easy it is to make a positive impact on the world, one bioretention facility at a time!!!

We will check back in the spring once the plants have had a chance to establish themselves.