Waterford Subdivision
Jordan Cove National Urban Monitoring Project
Site
Description: The Jordan Cove watershed located along the Connecticut
side of the long Island Sound in Waterford, CT. Jordan Cove is a
small estuary fed by Jordan Brook; the estuary empties into Long
Island Sound. Water quality sampling has indicated that the Cove
does not meet bacteriological standards for shellfish growing and
sediment sampling has revealed high concentrations of arsenic. Part
of the area selected for a monitoring project was designed as a
traditional subdivision and the other part was designed as a "BMP"
section. The construction of the "traditional subdivision"
began in June, 1997 and the construction of the "non-traditional
subdivision" began in March, 2000.
Design Details:The 18-acre
Glen Brook Green subdivision, home of the Jordan
Cove project, is part of a 6- to 10-year monitoring
project funded by the US EPA through the National
Monitoring Program under Sec. 319 of the Clean Water
Act, it is administered by the CT DEP, and UConn
is leading the research effort. It is also one of
22 projects the EPA is funding under the Clean Water
Act. Aqua Solutions, L.L.C., is serving as the project
coordinator facilitating communication between public
and private partners and conducting project outreach.
The complete time frame for the project is 1996
to 2006. Design of the subdivisions was done by the
UConn Natural Resources Management and Engineering
Department, the UConn Landscape Architect Program
and D. W. Gerwick Engineering, L.L.C.
The reason for the project is an effort to address
the impact of residential development on water quality. The traditional
or "cookie-cutter" of the subdivision was 17 building
lots on 10.6 acres in a traditional, half-acre zoning pattern, with
curbs, catch basins, storm sewers and impervious streets 24 feet
wide. The other half was 12 lots on 6.9 acres with non-traditional
zoning setbacks, grassed drainage swales, and narrower, pervious
streets, made with segment pavers, 20 feet wide.
Cost Information: The EPA will spend $475,000
on the monitoring project over six years, or as much as $775,000
if four additional year are needed at the end for data collection.
Maintenance: Maintenance for this project
is similar to the maintenance for any subdivision. The town needs
to keep the roads clean and maintain the storm drains, and the residents
need to care of their lawns.
Notes: In an EPA report from January 2000,
it was stated that the sampling results to date indicate that construction
of the traditional neighborhood is causing significant impacts on
runoff quality and quantity, including observed increases in mean
weekly flow volume, runoff frequency, and mean weekly peak discharge.
The conversion of the watershed's topography from a "knoll"
to a "bowl," combined with an increase in impervious surface,
appears to have caused a significant change in hydrologic responses.
Concentrations of NO3-N and Pb in runoff also increased.
However, increases in the concentrations of sediment and sediment-associated
nutrients, typical of construction sites, did not occur.
Contact: Bruce Morton, Project Manager
Aqua Solutions, LLC, 11 South Main Street Marlborough, CT. 06447
Phone: (860) 295-1505, aquasolutions@snet.net
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