EL PARQUE DEL RIO

Funded through the City’s 2008 Parks Bond, the project scope required us to examine the parkways along the river from St. Francis to Palace Avenue. A lowered water table has occurred over time due to the channelized river condition and has affected many of the trees along the park. Stormwater is a powerful part of urban watersheds that currently bypasses the park through traditional drop inlets. These pipes feed water and pollutants directly into the river. In order to re-hydrate the parkway and decrease pollutant loads into the river, we have proposed several innovative strategies to reinvigorate water into the soil.

Stormwater acequias take water from the streets and sidewalks and distribute it into water absorbing wicks to benefit orchard trees and native cottonwoods. “Oxbow” swales are simple depressions we have created to allow water to infiltrate and in large rain events exit and continue to another swale or traditional stormwater inlet. We are also utilizing the existing stone curbing near Old Santa Fe Trail to intentionally allow “leaking” under the sidewalk and hydrate the cottonwood canopy downtown.