Project Overview

Problem Statement

Impervious surfaces and increases in construction and developing properties has caused increased runoff and erosion in urban waterways. Excess sediment, nutrients, and pollutants alter these waterways and cause an increase in algal blooms, vegetation, and other issues. These effects are exemplified in one of the ponds in the Waterford neighborhood in Lexington, Kentucky. Algal blooms, bank vegetation growth, sediment loading, and clogged fountain pumps in the pond are caused by the runoff from Fayette Mall and the development of The Summit in the headwaters of the pond’s watershed.

Our project goals are two-part: short-term solutions that alleviate the clogging fountain pumps and long-term solutions that mitigate problems with incoming sediment. These problems are compounded by the fact that the pond is not large enough to support the size of the drainage area, and is barely more than a widening of the channel. The pond, fountains, and surrounding areas are purely for aesthetic purposes, and the neighborhood wants to keep the area, within reason, the way it is. In the end, the hope is to test solutions to the pump fountain issues in the short-term and design a mitigation construction project to alleviate problems caused by incoming sediment for the long-term.