The Value of a Partnership

Last month we featured a project at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) Hadley Farm Equine Center that controlled water runoff and soil erosion in pasture turn-outs. You will recall that this project highlighted a partnership between UMass and a local environmental group, The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, that was able to arrange funding through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under a Targeted Watershed Initiative Grant for the Connecticut River. This month we are back at the Hadley Farm to feature another of these projects: planters boxes that can help control run off from barn and arena roofs while adding beauty to your facility.

The Problem with Large Roofs on Barns and Arenas

When rain falls on a barn or an arena a considerable amount of water can sheet off the surface in a very short time. The force of this water hitting the ground can cause soil erosion, and the volume can be more than the ground can readily absorb. You and your horse can end up standing in mud, and at a larger level, the local watershed can be impacted as pollutants that may normally be filtered by ground vegetation can be carried off into the local waterways. A vicious cycle can then ensue. It rains, run off causes soil erosion and increased soil erosion causes more runoff.

Solve the Problem and Water Your Flowers Too!

Geosyntec, www.geosyntec.com, a company that specializes in site design, has come up with an ingenious design for a planter box to mitigate this situation on the barns at the Hadley Farm. It basically involves intercepting the water via a gutter system and directing it to planter boxes that filter it, slow it down and direct it to a filtration bed that further detains the water. Much like you might find on a house, gutters installed along the edge of the barn roof collect the rain water and direct it into downspouts that discharge the water into the planter boxes located at the four corners of the barn. These planter boxes are designed to act as a kind of holding container for the water. Where the downspouts hit the top of the planter boxes an area of drainage stone protects the planter soil from being disturbed by the rush of water. The water is then absorbed into a bed of bioretention soil that fills most of the planter box. Once inside the box the water settles into a bed of drainage stones at the bottom of the planter into which a 6” perforated pipe is set. Water seeps into this pipe via the perforations and is then carried out of the planter and into an in-ground infiltration trench made up of crushed gravel that further slows the water before it makes it way into the ground. So with this system not only can you and your horses have dry feet, but you can protect local waterways and have your flowers watered too!

We would love to feature YOUR creativity and ideas. Contact Ellen Whittemore at ellenmwhittemore@yahoo.com

Copyright 2010 Ellen Whittemore