Projects & Programs - Green Infrastructure Program

Assessment and Design of Green Infrastructure for the Royce Brook Watershed

The Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program has developed preliminary design plans for large scale stormwater management projects located in the Royce Brook Watershed in Hillsborough, NJ. The five projects are the Hillsborough Municipal Complex, Meadowbrook Drive, Flanders Drive, Patridge Farm Road, and the Hillsborough Plaza. These projects will serve to manage stormwater runoff from areas that currently contain no or little stormwater management systems already. The goal of the project was to design BMPs (Best Management Practices) that could fit into existing developments with disruption to existing structures minimized.

The projects are designed to manage stormwater flows from the 2-, 10-, and 100-Year storm events. The project will either decrease runoff volume or detain it for a sufficient time after the storm ensuring no negative downstream impacts to the existing sewer system.  All proposed stormwater management facilities have been designed with underdrains to ensure drainage and to prevent any negative impact to adjacent structures resulting from groundwater mounding.  The seasonal high-water table at these sites appears to be at least 36 inches below the bottom of all proposed structures, to be confirmed by on-site testing.

Project Highlights

  • Conceptual designs for 11 sites were prepared and were shared with municipal officials and the public for feedback.
  • An analysis of three different scenarios was conducted to establish the feasibility of retrofitting developments at a large scale.  This included looking at designs restricted to municipal lands, designs for reducing peak discharge of predevelopment peak to 80% and capturing and holding the entire storm unlike manually released.  This analysis provided insight into how much land was needed during each of these situations, so final designs focused on the first case for ease of implementation.
  • Five preliminary designs were prepared for five future project locations for large scale development retrofits to manage existing developments without significant stormwater management.  Originally 5-10 designs were anticipated to be completed, but it became clear during working on projects of this scale that the original goal of completing 10 designs was too large of an undertaking for the scope of the project.
  • These projects will provide a basis for the feasibility of large scale retrofit of existing developments in residential and commercial areas to comply with existing regulations and help mitigate future climate change impacts.  These designs are ready for approval from the municipality and property owners to enter final design, funding, and implementation.

Deliverables

Project Funding Source: 
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
NFWF GRANT ID: 0318.22.074762

Contact:
Christopher C. Obropta, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences
Extension Specialist in Water Resources
Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program
14 College Farm Road
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone: 848-932-5711/Fax:732-932-8644
obropta@envsci.rutgers.edu

Matthew Leconey
Project Manager
Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program
14 College Farm Road
New Brunsweick, NJ 08901
Phone: 848-932-6716/Fax:732-932-8644
matthew.leconey@rutgers.edu



Water Resources Program at Rutgers NJAES