North Creek Constructed Stormwater Wetlands,
Centennial Campus, NCSU

Two wetlands are being constructed on the North Creek floodplain to capture and treat stormwater runoff from 6 watershed acres. One wetland (11,100 sq. ft.) will receive stormwater from the College of Textiles roof and lawn, as well as from the area surrounding the Engineering Graduate Research Center. The other wetland (2,185 sq. ft.) will receive stormwater from the Research II parking lot and portions of the building. The wetlands will have adjustable water levels using weir structures, to control plant growth and large storm events. The wetlands will be designed to treat excess nutrients, metals, organic compounds, and sediment using vegetation filtration and uptake, microbial transformations in aerobic and anaerobic environments, and deep pools for sedimentation. The wetlands will also be designed to fit into the landscape, along a greenway path with natural vegetation and upslope hardwood tree plantings.

This project was designed by Melanie Carter, a graduate student in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Dept. under the direction of Dr. Bill Hunt (Project Professional Engineer, Dr. Jean Spooner (Project Manager; Committee Co-Chair) and Dr. Robert Evans (Committee Co-Chair). Additional staff working with the project include:

Karen Hall, wetland vegetation plan
Kris Bass, design
Dan Line, monitoring program

The project was facilitated by a collection of students working with the NCSU Water Quality Group:

Joe Puckett
Ian Jewell
Todd Flippen
Mike Schott
Catherine Weile
Isaac Thompson

The project was funded by NCSU and a USDA water quality grant for North Creek Restoration. Construction began July 5th and is scheduled to be completed July 30th, with planting in September.

Urban Watershed: Parking Lots and Roofs

Constructed Stormwater Wetland Design

Construction Progress

First storm (7-22-04)

Showing internal features

Construction ended 8/2/04, amidst much rain from Hurricane Alex. The wetlands and surrounding construction area were hydroseeded with a non-nitrogen fertilizer, wood mulch, and flocculant (PAM) to initiate grass growth for erosion control. The hydroseeding system was provided by US Environmental Protection Services, Greensboro, NC.

Research is under way to compare the use of PAM for erosion control in constructed wetlands. PAM was applied to Wetland 1, but not inside Wetland 2. TSS, turbidity, and topsoil erosion will be monitored

WORKSHOPS

An invasive plant workshop was held July 14, 2004 at NC State by the Water Quality Group. Steve Manning and Lee Patrick of Invasive Plant Control, Inc. (IPC) gave presentations on identifying and controlling invasive exotic plants on campus to an audience comprised of mostly campus facility employees. The university is trying to become more proactive in responding to invasive plants around campus and this workshop served as a training course for them. Additional faculty members gave presentations on campus resources for invasive plant management, Microstegium identification and control, and alternative control methods such as use of goats. IPC then gave an afternoon tour of North Creek on Centennial Campus identifying invasives and discussing control methods.

To view the presentations given at the invasive plant workshop, click on the title of the talk below.