Madison High School students create bioswale for parking lot

Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), Jun 3, 2003 by Dan Carter

Three students in Wil Mitman's sixth period biology class at Madison High School in Northeast Portland had "sort of heard about" bioswales, but really didn't know what they were.

With help from teachers and mentors from the Portland office of CH2M Hill, along with independent research, freshman Lai Meng Saechao, freshman Amanda Huntley and sophomore Staci Heathman designed a bioswale for their school's parking lot. Now they, along with their classmates, are implementing the design and transforming a 20-foot-wide by 160-foot-long strip of asphalt at the school into a natural drainage system.

A bioswale is defined as a low-lying piece of land designed to slow the flow of stormwater and to filter pollutants so the water can be absorbed and toxic substances removed.

Founded in Corvallis in 1946, CH2M Hill is an international firm providing engineering and planning, along with scientific and economic consulting services.

So instead of stormwater from the parking lot draining into catch basins and eventually into the stormwater and sewer system, the stormwater will be diverted to the excavated contours. It will then be absorbed by the native plants of the bioswale.

A planting party last week had students, teachers and mentors getting rid of rocks, smoothing dirt and planting native flora, such as fescue grass, wild roses and cranberries.

"We put a lot of time into this project, both in and out of class," recalls Huntley. "We did a lot of field research around the area looking at bioswales that have been built."

The project was sponsored by Madison High School's Academy of Sciences and Natural Resources, a program for environmentally related, project-based learning funded by a grant from the city of Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services.

The bioswale design and construction fits into the school's goal of providing students a way to demonstrate their education while having a positive impact on their community.

CH2M Hill engineers have been an integral part of the natural resources program for the past three years, volunteering as mentors to students on various projects and field studies.

Chris Allen, an associate engineer for CH2M Hill, started working with the students on the bioswale in November.

"They already had the idea and asked me to help walk them through the process of designing and building the system," he said. "At first, some of the students weren't too involved, but as the project grew, interest grew. They saw this as a chance to do something good for the environment and leave a personal and positive mark on Madison High.

"I have talked with others here at our company about their work at the school and have heard similar stories," Allen added. "The engineers and students alike have gotten a lot out of the process. Mentoring the students has been great for everyone involved."