Town Center Subbasin Study Report - Bellingham Massachusetts

STUDY AREA SELECTIONRHODE ISLANDFigure 1 . Subwatershed in Bellingham, MA, highlighted in red, within the context of the Charles River watershedCRWA’s first task was to identify and select anappropriate area for which we would develop astormwater management plan. Our goal was to selectan area that met the following criteria:• Appropriately sized for stormwater modelingwithin the confines of this project (less than1/2 square mile);• Contains mixed land uses, representative of theTown of Bellingham as a whole;• Includes private properties that will be subjectto EPA’s new stormwater permitting program(a.k.a Designated Discharge (DD) program);• Includes public property and open space;• Has a significant amount of impervious cover;• Provides retrofit design opportunities ofvarying types and at different scales;• Has engaged stakeholder groups.The first phase of the selection process involvedextensive use of geographic information systems(GIS) to assess how various subwatersheds matchedselection criteria. The following information wascompiled for possible subwatersheds:• Size• Population• Soil types• Land use (1999)• Parcel sizes within the subwatershed• Permitted water withdrawal and dischargepoints• Public sites• Open space• Stormwater permit sites (a.k.a. DD sites)• Impervious area5Based on the initial assessment, CRWA narroweddown the number of potential study areas based onthe criteria listed above. CRWA then conducted sitevisits to further evaluate existing conditions, as wellas restoration potential and challenges. Followingthis assessment process, CRWA met with the TownPlanner, Department of Public Works, the Departmentof Health and representatives from Nitsch Engineeringto select the final study area. Town personnel providedimportant input regarding the municipality’s plans andpriorities for the various areas.The Bellingham Town Center was selected as thestudy area because it closely matched the selectioncriteria. The Subwatershed Selection Report whichdetails the process leading to the selection of thissubwatershed can be found on CRWA’s websitewww.charlesriver.org/projects/bellingham/CRWASubwatershedSelectionReport_Final.pdf).“Our goal is to identify techniquesand management approaches toreengineer the built environmentto make it function more like thenatural environment.”- Charles River Watershed Association