Wetlands Page 1

Wetlands Group
Problem 1: Areas That Don't Drain

Areas on campus that don't drain are a problem because they force pedestrians to bypass areas or wade through flooded sidewalks and parking lots. These areas are highly unattractive and give the impression that the University does not properly maintain its campus. Besides being detrimental to the appearance of campus, collected, stagnant water creates landscapes that are unusable. Improper drainage produces waterlogged soils that are unhealthy for trees on campus, and excess water can kill the grass and create "litter lakes." Besides these direct complications with nature, the stagnant water creates an unpleasant atmosphere, which breeds mosquitoes and bothers passersby with unpleasant odors.

Current situation:

Our surveys of the Rice community indicate main problem areas include areas such as the quad between Herring Hall and the RMC, the sidewalk north of Baker College entrance, the Will Rice quad, and the area between Hanszen and Wiess. The Walter P. Moore and Associates (WPMA) report published in 1997 identifies sites which may also be important, but our surveys demonstrated those sites did not affect the majority of the Rice community.

Figure 2. Flooded green area in front of Baker College.
Water has problems getting to the existing drains. For example, some drains exist on campus that have slight hills in front of them, so water cannot drain.
The current wastewater sewer system can back up in a large storm event, distributing raw sewage onto the campus.
Sidewalks enclose green areas with no storm drains in them, creating pools of standing water. (See Appendix A.)

Criteria: In remedying the situation, we need to consider:

Aesthetics of the campus
Effectiveness of our solutions in different rainfall events
Health effects, including mosquito breeding grounds and human safety
How our solutions will affect local ecology

Solutions:

Subtle land contouring to eliminate pond formation. In this case, care must be taken to prevent damage to tree roots due to the addition and removal of soil.
Drains can be added, modified, or repaired to allow egress of pooled water.
Sidewalk "boxes" can be added to release water trapped by sidewalks into pre-existing drains.

Wetlands Group
Problem 1: Areas That Don't Drain

Current situation:

Criteria: In remedying the situation, we need to consider:

Solutions:

Problem 2: Dysfunctional Drains

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Back to Bake 302 Page

Wetlands Group Problem 1: Areas That Don't Drain

Current situation:

Criteria: In remedying the situation, we need to consider:

Solutions:

Problem 2: Dysfunctional Drains

Back to Wetlands Page

Back to Bake 302 Page

Wetlands Group
Problem 1: Areas That Don't Drain