Those developing and redeveloping properties an acre or larger may find stormwater management requirements more strict — but more environmentally friendly — come summer.
The city is working towards new, tighter drainage standards that will be closer to standards in communities such as Merrillville and Cedar Lake and in Porter County government.
The city’s plan is to slow the flow of water into ditches and streams and have less water go that way, said Stormwater Engineer Adam McAlpine, who recentlly presented plans to the Utilities .
The frequency of what are known as 100-year rains, where eight inches or more of water falls in a 24-hour period, is part of the reason for the changes.
The increased speed of the water in Beauty Creek during the Aug. 22 storms eroded the banks under the Harrison Boulevard bridge, collapsing part of the bridge and eroded part of West Vale Park Road.
The Valparaiso City Utilities Board is expected to vote on the plans Tuesday, and from there the plans will go to the Plan Commission March 10 and April 14, then to the City Council April 27 and May 11 before returning to the Utilities Board on May 12 for final adoption.
“Relative to some of the other standards, we’re not as stringent, but we’re becoming more stringent,” McAlpine said.
The rain gardens, where plants also soak up water, are part of Low Impact Development standards that other municipalities have language suggesting.
Valparaiso will have a point system for those standards, where developers can choose what they implement to reach 100 points for every acre.
The list includes rain gardens, wetland creation/restoration, certain basins and use of new technology.
“This isn’t intended to be burdensome,” McAlpine said.
The city has put some of these into practice at the improved Thorgren Basin on Roosevelt Road south of Evans Avenue, along Calumet Avenue with rain gardens and with pervious concrete that allows water to pass through it.
Valparaiso is “trying to create a landscape of site design that allows the water to soak into the ground or get soaked up by the plants,” McAlpine said.
James D. Wolf Jr. is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
