Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.07
Liaison Breeana Sylvas
Submission Date Feb. 25, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of California, Merced
OP-27: Rainwater Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution use Low Impact Development (LID) practices as a matter of policy or standard practice to reduce rainwater/stormwater runoff volume and improve outgoing water quality for new construction, major renovation, and other projects?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s Low Impact Development (LID) practices:

The campus has established LEED credits for storm-water management, rate and quantity storm-water management treatment as campus-wide credits. These are enforced through building projects and storm-water management plans. The campus has been designed to collect 100% of the storm water for all building development.


Has the institution adopted a rainwater/stormwater management policy, plan, or strategies that mitigate the rainwater runoff impacts of ongoing campus operations through the use of green infrastructure? :
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s rainwater/stormwater management policy, plan, and/or strategies for ongoing campus operations:

Our current mitigation and policy requires the campus to collect and store 100% of its storm water for the 1 and 2 year 24 hour design storms. In addition, the campus is developing a storm-water management plan required by the State Water Resource Board that contains plans, practices, and requirements for ongoing campus operations and maintenance of UC Merced campus storm-water systems.


A brief description of any rainwater harvesting employed by the institution:
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Rainwater harvested directly and stored/used by the institution, performance year:
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A brief description of any rainwater filtering systems employed by the institution to treat water prior to release:

The campus has 2 CDS units installed in front of two retention ponds that capture the campuses storm-water. Prior to the storm-water entering the two detention ponds, the CDS units route storm run-off through a separation chamber with a cylindrical screen. A natural vortex is formed and the high velocities push out the suspended solids in the chamber. The sediment then settles into a sump while floatable particles remain in the separation chamber. The unit will capture 95% of solid particles down to those passing a No. 10 Seive and 100% of floatable materials that flow through the unit.


A brief description of any living or vegetated roofs on campus:
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A brief description of any porous (i.e. permeable) paving employed by the institution:

The campus has a 3.6 acre parking lot (Lake Lot II) that included porous parking areas and light colored surfaces to eliminate a heat island effect. The system uses a Geoweb system replaces asphalt parking areas with a porous gravel matrix. The porous surface covers approximately 70% of the lot surface.


A brief description of any downspout disconnection employed by the institution:
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A brief description of any rain gardens on campus:
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A brief description of any stormwater retention and/or detention ponds employed by the institution:

The campus has an integrated storm-water management plan that collects all campus runoff in two retention ponds, Little Lake and North Pond. These two ponds collect 100% of our storm-water runoff.


A brief description of any bioswales on campus (vegetated, compost or stone):

The campus uses vegetated swales for the storm-water approach to the campuses largest retention pond Little Lake, located in the Valley Terraces housing area. These swales slow water runoff and allow solids to separate in order to increase the quality of runoff.


A brief description of any other rainwater management technologies or strategies employed by the institution:

The campus also uses hydrodynamic separators before storm water enters the two campus retention ponds Little Lake and North Pond. The hydrodynamic separators, also known as CDS units (Continuous Deflective Separation), use centrifugal force of flowing water to remove solids before the water enters the retention pond.


The website URL where information about the institution’s rainwater management initiatives, plan or policy is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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