Pond alternatives
According to University of Illinois civil engineering professor Ben Chie Yen, retention ponds are a relatively new idea in residential development, occurring only within the last 30 years. When properly constructed, ponds represent a way to manage both flooding and pollution. However, most are not properly constructed. Now that wildlife conflicts are resulting from these wet ponds, a more holistic approach to water management is warranted.
Examples of holistic stormwater management are found in the grass-covered basins or dry ponds used by some cities to clean and temporarily retain floodwater. One of the more successful projects is in Athelstone, a suburb of Campbelltown South Australia. Formerly subject to flooding problems, Athelstone relies on a circular dry pond (diam. 40 yds., max. depth 13 ft.) which adjoins the soccer fields of a local park. Using filter structures to collect sediment and debris from stormwater before it enters local waterways, the pond drains 20 inches of rainfall a year from an area of approximately 247 acres. Overflow occasionally covers the soccer fields, however, water does not stand on the fields, nor in the pond. Because Athelstone receives less rainfall and its green spaces are larger than those of many Illinois subdivisions, siting and constructing an effective similar stormwater management system would require comprehensive, long-range planning on the part of developers and city planners. It also would mean that suburban homeowners would have to reacquaint themselves with the seemingly forgotten aesthetic of large, public green spaces.
Plans for the Athelstone dry pond can be obtained by writing to:
City of Campbelltown, Attn. Geoff Manuel, PO Box 1, Campbelltown, SA 5074, Australia.
Additionally, an excellent overview of Canadea goose policies, problems, management tools can be found in Mananging Canada Geese in Urban Environments: A Technical Guide, by A.E. Smith et al, ISBN 1-57753-255- 4.
Return to:
Canada geese vs suburbia: the case for adaptable environmental policy
Other Articles in Volume 1, Issue 2 - March, 1999:
Is it time to regulate agricultural fertilizers?
Creating partnership for environmental policy making