Nuts and Bolts:
Construction Update Corner
Update provided by Deb Morgan, Dean/Construction Liaison
After the faculty convocation, I had several individuals ask about the water element in our master plan, otherwise known as Lago Vista. I requested that the landscape architects provide us with some information about why we are building this lake into the master plan and what the lake will accomplish related to the goals of the capital improvement project (CIP), the goal of being a good steward of our natural resources, and the overall goals of Northwest Vista College. Here is our landscape architect, Scott Slaney’s response:
Lago Vista
Northwest Vista College is proposed to include an approximately 2.0 acre lake in the heart of the campus to accomplish five goals:
- Water Harvesting and Conservation
- Water Quality Preservation
- Storm Water Management
- Student and Faculty Attraction and Retention
- Campus Connectivity
The lake contributes to these goals as follows:
Water Harvesting and Conservation
Site run-off will be directed first to the lake. Water from the largest downpour to the smallest trickle from remnant irrigation will be collected in the lake. In addition, all condensate water from building air conditioning systems will be stored in the lake. Harvested run-off and condensate water will create a viable source for landscape irrigation water and help offset evaporation losses. During very dry summer months, SAWS recycled water will augment make-up water needs. Although the landscape will be designed using native and indigenous plant materials, their establishment will require irrigation in order to make the investment viable. Irrigation will be perhaps the largest consumer of water on the project. Pumping harvested water from the lake for irrigation preserves precious domestic water for human consumption and over the life of the college will save thousands of dollars annually in purchased water.
Water Quality Preservation
Urbanization always leads to an increase in pollutants. Pollutants such as car oils, tire and brake pad dust, transmission fluid and litter washed into our streams and rivers have a detrimental effect on wildlife, people and ecosystems. Directing non-point source pollutants carried by that first flush of rain to the campus lake, after passing through bio-filtration systems, will help contain pollutants and preserve regional water quality. To maintain water quality in the lake itself, biological systems will be employed. First, the lake will be big enough to create wind-driven waves and deep enough to support fish. Fish eat insects and other water vegetation and wind-driven waves help add oxygen to water. Secondly, water from the lake will be pumped to the top of the existing swale west of the lake and gradually fall downhill through a series of wetland grass plantings and pools polishing and oxygenating water along the way. One simple pump, a little gravity and nature will do the rest.
Storm Water Management
By code, and principles of ethical development, we are required to not increase run-off, or time of concentration of runoff water leaving the site. Adding impermeable surfaces such as roofs, parking lots and streets cause water to move quickly to streams and drainage ways. A lot of water arriving at one place, quickly, is a major cause of flooding. To avoid this, we are required to detain water so that the time of concentration of water leaving the site is not increased as a result of campus development. The lake creates a perfect location to detain water as all drain lines lead to the lake. Its water elevation can rise and fall, detaining water when needed. Using the surface area of the lake for detention will avoid clearing other areas of the site and the unnecessary loss of additional existing trees.
Student and Faculty Attraction and Retention
Everyone is attracted to water and water-based environments. Every successful organization can attribute its success to the quality of the people who comprise it. At a college, quality leadership attracts quality faculty and quality faculty attracts quality students who, in turn, become ambassadors to future generations of students. The lake will become the defining element of the campus and the memory people take with them. How architecture plays on the lake, with reflections day and night, will result in unforgettable images and perhaps the tipping point in recruiting and retaining the best and brightest.
Campus Connectivity
Preserving the remarkable natural environment of the site while integrating the college’s much-needed educational facilities requires campus buildings to be located on both sides of the existing swale that runs north/south across the site. The unimproved swale would essentially result in a divided campus; one side east of the swale, and a second side west of the swale. The lake located over this swale will create reflections visually joining the east side of the campus to the west, creating one connected campus and resulting in a journey from one side to the other that is an event!
As always, if you have any questions about construction or the CIP, do not hesitate to contact Deb Morgan at 348-2370.
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