A public-private partnership and some federal stimulus funding are helping to save an urban forest in South Carolina, undoing—or at least slowing—years of erosion damage from stormwater runoff.
The Hitchcock Woods in Aiken, SC, cover more than 2,000 acres of low-lying land near the city. For decades, the woods have received the runoff from higher-elevation—and increasingly developed—areas, until now there are deep canyons crisscrossing them.
Aiken received $3.3 million for green infrastructure projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or stimulus funds, and part of that money will go to the Hitchcock Woods project. Much of the work will be carried out in other parts of the city, though, to divert runoff from flowing into the wooded area.
Clemson University’s Center for Watershed Excellence is partnering with the city on the project, receiving two grants for its work. One is for the design of low-impact development practices throughout Aiken to limit runoff, such as rain gardens and bioswales. The Center is also developing a monitoring program for the city. Woolpert Inc. is designing some stormwater treatment systems. Clemson’s site has more details of the project.