Anything from frequent rainfalls to rare storm surges can put a low-lying area in City of Linden, New Jersey at the flood risk. A grant was awarded to Rutgers University by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) for flood mitigation, ecosystem restoration and coastal resiliency in this area. Through this funding, multiple project partners including local and state governments, consultants, contractors, philanthropic and volunteering organizations, residents, et al. have employed various solutions to help the area deal with frequent flooding and at the same time enhance community ecosystem. These include installation of rain gardens, rain barrels and porous parking lots, recovery of conveyance capacity as well as floodplain wetlands restoration on “Blue Acres” (buyout lands). This presentation will provide information on placement, design, construction, maintenance and assessment of six rain gardens and two porous parking lots retrofitted into the existing municipal lands. To reduce the construction costs, only the lower portion of the conventional parking lots was made porous while the rest was left unchanged. Implications of this lower-cost porous parking lot design on performance and maintenance will be discussed. Alternatives for rain garden outlet design will also be illustrated with the goal of achieving a better balance among flood mitigation, mosquitoes minimization and plant survival in the area of low soil permeability. Other-related research activities will be summarized as well including laboratory development of flow-head rating curve for the rain garden’s gravel outlet, accurate quantification of depression storage on uneven land surface and precise delineation of catchment area for small-scale green stormwater infrastructure. Moreover, this presentation will provide information on enhancement of “Blue Acres” for stormwater management and wetlands restoration. Components of the “Blue Acres” enhancement include floodplain restoration with saltmarsh and wetlands, coastal forest, open space with native grasses and wildflowers as well as public access.
