Oral Abstract Details

Author(s):
Domini Cunningham

Affiliation:
Masters of Landscape Architecture, Auburn University

Presentation Type:
Oral

Topic Area:
Ecosystem impacts on human communities (e.g., human health, economic well-being, political action)

Abstract Text:
Currently the area around Bienville Park of Mobile, Alabama, is within the 100-year flood plain while the parking lot directly west of Bienville Park (Joachim Lot) is located within the 500-year flood plain. This suggests that the area is more susceptible to seasonal flooding, and due to the current deficiencies of the existing storm drain system, the area is prone to flooding. The existing system currently overflows during heavy rains implying that an auxiliary storage or retention system would be beneficial to the Mobile’s downtown area in order to make the storm drain system more effective in preventing floods. Another issue affecting a majority of the downtown Mobile area is the abundance of concrete buildings and pavements. This large amount of concrete leads to a low albedo factor. The albedo of an object is its surface’s reflectivity, specifically when dealing with the rays from the sun. This means that the city of Mobile does not do a good job of reflecting the sun’s rays, therefore causing the city surfaces to retain most of the absorbed heat during the day, maintaining higher temperatures and cooling costs. In order to combat the issues previously stated I am suggesting that the city of Mobile: 1. implement bladder cisterns to capture excess storm water runoff 2. include more shaded areas via native trees to combat the heat island effect By installing bladder cisterns throughout the city, some of the excess water flows are expected to be diverted to the cisterns instead of the storm drains. The benefit of this implementation would be two fold. First the cost having to remove the existing storm drain and replacing it with a larger one is eliminated, and second, the water collected through the cisterns would be stored underground to be redistributed throughout different hydrological systems within the city. This would allow some relief to the existing water service by providing an additional location to pull water from. Another benefit from reducing the amount of flood waters on the streets would be a decrease in the amount of city erosion stemming from flooded streets, this means there would be less sediments deposited to Mobile bay. Finally, the redesigned parking lots of Mobile would include native trees that help shade the location resulting in a higher albedo factor. Thus reducing the amount of heat absorbed from the sun and reduce cooling costs during warmer seasons. By adding trees to the parking lots, the rate at which rain water enters the storm drains would also be reduced.