A new environmentally friendly stormwater demonstration and training project is coming to Kansas State University.
Faculty and students at Kansas State will create “living laboratories” to monitor wet weather runoff at two campus sites… the rain garden at the university's International Student Center and a meadow near the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art.
The idea is to treat stormwater as a resource rather than a waste.
This “green infrastructure” project will use vegetation, soils, and natural processes to create sustainable stormwater management.
The project will provide hands-on lessons and training on water quality analysis, runoff modeling, and overall ecological health assessments.
Students from different disciplines will collaborate on the monitoring program.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $20,000 grant to K-State for the project.
The EPA says the award builds on the success of its Campus RainWorks Challenge, in which faculty and student teams design green infrastructure projects for their campuses.
Kansas State won a $2,000 first-place prize in 2013.
