| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 63.09 |
| Liaison | Elida Erickson |
| Submission Date | April 17, 2015 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of California, Santa Cruz
OP-27: Rainwater Management
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Elida
Erickson Sustainability Director Sustainability Office |
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indicates that no data was submitted for this field
None
Does the institution use Low Impact Development (LID) practices as a matter of policy or standard practice to reduce rainwater/stormwater runoff volume and improve outgoing water quality for new construction, major renovation, and other projects?:
Yes
None
A brief description of the institution’s Low Impact Development (LID) practices:
Protection of water quality is mandated by the federal Clean Water Act, the state Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, and other federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances.There are several regulatory documents detailing requirements specific to the campus. The most extensive of these is the campus Storm Water Management Plan. The UCSC Storm Water Management Plan details a wide range of specific activities to:
• educate the campus community regarding the role of storm water and how to reduce negative impacts on storm water runoff
• involve the campus public in storm water protection activities
• prevent unhealthy and illegal discharges
• manage storm water on construction sites
• design storm water protections into campus development and redevelopment
• protect storm water quality during campus operations and maintenance activities such as landscape maintenance, building maintenance, food facility operations, and university owned vehicle maintenance and washing.
None
Has the institution adopted a rainwater/stormwater management policy, plan, or strategies that mitigate the rainwater runoff impacts of ongoing campus operations through the use of green infrastructure? :
Yes
None
A brief description of the institution’s rainwater/stormwater management policy, plan, and/or strategies for ongoing campus operations:
UCSC has stringent policies to regulate storm water management that must be in compliance with local municipality and California coastal environmental regulations. University policies address several areas including construction, building operations, custodial and other staff procedures, protection of wildlife, car washing procedures, and general education to the community.
None
A brief description of any rainwater harvesting employed by the institution:
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None
Rainwater harvested directly and stored/used by the institution, performance year:
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None
A brief description of any rainwater filtering systems employed by the institution to treat water prior to release:
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None
A brief description of any living or vegetated roofs on campus:
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None
A brief description of any porous (i.e. permeable) paving employed by the institution:
Yes. UCSC installed pervious concrete parking stalls as part of the Biomedical Building completed in 2012. We also have many areas around Campus that utilize pervious pavers. See the pervious pavement video on the cleanwater.ucsc.edu website.
None
A brief description of any downspout disconnection employed by the institution:
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None
A brief description of any rain gardens on campus:
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None
A brief description of any stormwater retention and/or detention ponds employed by the institution:
UCSC has many detention ponds. One of the newest detention ponds, located near Kerr Hall, was completed in 2012. See a photo on the cleanwater.ucsc.edu website under the ABOUT link.
None
A brief description of any bioswales on campus (vegetated, compost or stone):
On the main Campus we have Biofiltration ponds at the Cowell Student Health Center that were installed in 2011. At the Marine Science Campus we have vegetated swales/biofiltration areas located in the parking areas. The most recent one was installed in the Music Center detention basin in 2012.
None
A brief description of any other rainwater management technologies or strategies employed by the institution:
UCSC has a Low Impact Development (LID) Checklist required to be completed by all capital projects increasing impervious surface. One LID technique we use on all projects is to disconnect stormwater flows allowing the water to infiltrate into the surrounding landscape whenever possible. UCSC uses level spreaders at many locations to slow the rate of discharge and return the flow to sheet flow. This slower flow allows the surrounding environment to infiltrate the storm water. We have a tree box unit installed at the Biomedical building. It is designed to capture runoff from the loading dock and filter any pollutants before the stormwater is discharged. Campus Standard is insure the post-construction flow rate will not cause excessive erosion. One threshold for excessive erosion is discharge at 20 percent of the 2 year storm. We also have Campus Standards for stormwater volume reduction.
None
The website URL where information about the institution’s rainwater management initiatives, plan or policy is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.