Green Infrastructure Education Program
In 2012, the Planning Department
coordinated a Green Infrastructure Education Program. The program
provided local professionals the opportunity to share their research and
expertise about green infrastructure with citizens and professionals in
Oklahoma City. The program focused on educating interested citizens
and design professionals on new and evolving development techniques
collectively known as “low-impact development”. Presentations
emphasized the benefits of these techniques and how they could be adaptable
to address conditions in Oklahoma City and implemented on varying scales
ranging from someone’s backyard to entire watersheds. The final
session of the program was held on November 28, 2012. A description of each
session is provided below.
2012 Education Sessions
February 2, 2012: Sustainable and Successful Landscapes
Time: 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the Oklahoma City
Community Foundation
Location:
1000 N Broadway Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK
Presenter: Brian Dougherty, FASLA
This session will share many of the components for planning,
implementing and maintaining a successful and sustainable landscape.
Proper design criteria, plant selection, soil preparation, irrigation
options, installation techniques as well as short term and long term
maintenance suggestions will be discussed.
March 22, 2012: Storm Water
Quality in Oklahoma City (download
PDF of presentation)
Time: 12:00 pm (bring your own lunch)
Location: City of Oklahoma City Public Works
Training Facility, 3738 SW 15th Street (SW 15th & S Portland)
Presenter: Raymond L. Melton, CSI, CPESC, Environmental Protection Manager, City of
Oklahoma City
This session will offer an overview of the Oklahoma City Storm Water Quality Public Outreach program
including a number of different elements reflecting the wide variety of
water quality-related programs that the City is responsible for. An optional
tour of the City's Household Hazardous Waste facility will begin at
1:00 pm.
April 26, 2012: Become
Bug-Wiser (download a PDF of presentation)
Time: 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Location: OSU-OKC, Agriculture Resource Center,
400 N Portland Avenue, Oklahoma City, Room ARC 196
Presenter:
Ray Ridlen, Horticulture Educator, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension
Service, Oklahoma County
This session will offer a review of how chemical application affects water quality and a tutorial on
the role of biological control in landscapes (also known as Integrated Pest
Management).
May 24, 2012: Oklahoma's Water Plan and
Green Infrastructure
Time: 12:00 pm (bring your own lunch)
Location: OSU-OKC, Agriculture Resource Center,
400 N Portland Avenue, Oklahoma City, Room ARC 196
Presenter: Jared Boyer, McAfee & Taft
This session will include a review of existing local ordinances in Oklahoma and their implications in the context of Oklahoma's Water Plan.
June 28, 2012: Advances in Sustainable
Agriculture (download
PDF of presentation)
Time: 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Location: OSU-OKC, Agriculture Resource Center, 400 N
Portland Avenue, Oklahoma City, Room ARC 196
Presenter:
Gregory F. Scott, State Soil Scientist, USDA-NRCS
This session will consist of an overview of advances in
sustainable agriculture and offer a guided tour of the web soil survey and
the soil datamart, a tool people use to
download spatial and attribute soil databases for the nation.
July 26, 2012: Rainwater Harvesting
(download a PDF of
presentation)
Time: 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm (bring your own lunch)
Location: OSU-OKC, Agriculture Resource Center, 400 N Portland Avenue, Oklahoma City,
Room ARC 196
Presenter: Jason R. Vogel, Ph.D., P.E. Assistant Professor and Stormwater
Specialist, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Oklahoma State University
This session will focus on research and demonstration projects related to
both large and small-scale rainwater harvesting systems.
August 23, 2012:
Habitat Fragmentation and its Effects on Wildlife
(download a PDF of
presentation)
Time:
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm (bring your own lunch)
Location:
OSU-OKC, Agriculture Resource Center, 400 N Portland Avenue, Oklahoma City,
Room ARC 193
Presenter: Chris Hise, Four Canyon Preserve
Director, The Nature Conservancy
Landscape fragmentation negatively affects many species of wildlife,
particularly in industrialized regions of the world.
This session will include an overview of the concepts of landscape
fragmentation and the potential implications for natural areas management in
Oklahoma.
September 27, 2012:
Filtration Gardens and Subdivision Design
Time:
11:30 am to 12:30 pm (bring your own lunch)
Location: OSU-OKC, Agriculture Resource Center,
400 N Portland Avenue, Oklahoma City, Room ARC 226
Presenters:
Richard McKown and Zack Roach
This session will highlight an innovative and experimental rain
garden project featured in a Norman subdivision. At the Trailwoods Rain
Garden, water from roofs and yards is being taken across rain gardens where
plants use and remove potentially harmful chemicals prior to their discharge
into drainage areas. The project represents a partnership between Ideal
Homes, the University of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, and
the EPA. The purpose of the project is to study the benefits of using
rain gardens to filter stormwater runoff and improve water quality before it
ends up in streams, rivers, and lakes. It will also document the true
project cost, including the cost of installation and basic day-to-day
maintenance and upkeep of the rain gardens over the long term.
October 25, 2012: Retrofitting Stormwater
Systems for Flood Hazard Mitigation with Low-Impact Development (LID)
Techniques
Time:
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm (bring your own lunch)
Location:
OSU-OKC, Agriculture Resource Center, 400 N Portland Avenue, Oklahoma City,
Room ARC 193
Presenters: Ellen W. Stevens, Ph.D., P.E., Civil Engineering Consultant and
Cody Whittenburg, CFM, CSM, Stormwater Programs Manager and Floodplain Administrator, City of Stillwater
This session will offer an overview of a stormwater project being
completed in the area known as Babcock Basin. The 180-acre drainage basin,
located in southwest Stillwater, experienced flooding during the heavy rains
in 2007. Utilizing FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), steps are
being taken to design a regional, retrofit of the stormwater system using
low-impact development (LID) techniques in order to reduce flood risk. This
session will offer an overview of the design and address some of the
inherent benefits, challenges, and other details associated with the
project.
November 29, 2012:
Natural Methods in Streambed Restoration and Stabilization
Time: 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm (bring your own lunch)
Location:
OSU-OKC, Agriculture Resource Center, 400 N Portland Avenue, Oklahoma City,
Room ARC 226
Presenter: Jason R. Vogel, Ph.D., P.E. Assistant Professor and Stormwater
Specialist Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Oklahoma State University
This session will highlight research and demonstration projects related to natural stream
bed
restoration. The program will focus on a series of stream restoration
projects in northeast Oklahoma's Illinois River basin that involved urban
and rural streams of various sizes. The projects were the result of
collaboration between several institutions and agencies, and were purposed
and designed to stabilize stream banks, protect infrastructure, reduce
erosion and the flow of phosphorous downstream, restore aquatic habitats,
and serve as demonstration sites.
If you have questions concerning any of the sessions listed, email
Michael Philbrick
or call 297-2110.