Southwest Park in Hoboken, New Jersey, completed this past fall on the site of a parking lot, can now hold 200,000 gallons of stormwater. (Photo by Jersey Digs)
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Stormwater + Get AlertsFlooding is common in the low-lying sections of Hoboken, New Jersey, since they are in the tidal marsh of the Hudson River across from Manhattan. That, along with chronic CSO issues, led the city to pursue an expansive green infrastructure initiative to better handle stormwater.
The multi-million-dollar project includes two parks featuring underground detention systems, permeable paving, rain gardens and bioswales. In total, the parks can detain nearly 1.2 million gallons of stormwater, so that it can be more slowly released into the collections system. The federal Clean Water State Revolving Fund provided $4.2 million of low-interest loan funding for the parks, making the project one of 28 water and wastewater projects recently recognized by the EPA for being innovative in either their design or financing. Only projects using the State Revolving Fund program were eligible for recognition.
A 1-acre park in the southwest portion of the city was completed this past fall and was built on the site of a parking lot. With a rain garden, porous pavers, a cistern for rainwater harvesting and reuse, and an underground detention system, it can hold 200,000 gallons of stormwater.
The second park in northwest Hoboken, on a 6-acre site purchased from chemical manufacturer BASF, will have an underground detention system that can hold another 1 million gallons. A temporary “pop-up” park opened up at the end of July to allow people to use it while the permanent park is built out over the next few years. Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer said it will be the city’s largest park once it’s completed.
“The more you can hold that rainwater back from going into the sewer system at the time that you get those heavy rain events, the better off you’ll be,” Zimmer told NJ Spotlight earlier this year.
MSWmag.com has been taking a closer look at some of the 28 State Revolving Fund financed projects recently recognized by the EPA. Check out these stories:
Utility Funnels Federal Funds to Customers’ Sewer Lateral Replacements
Utility Saves Big on CSO Project Financing
Converting Storm Sewer to Creek Helps City Fight Chronic Flooding
