Engineering
Imperiled Species Protection Application & Study
Palm Coast's Engineering and Stormwater Department is diligently working in the background, surveying and designing intricate infrastructure replacement projects within the City's entire stormwater drainage system. Working hand in hand with the Public Works Department on stormwater projects and supporting all other departments with technical issues. Our five year goal is to maintain a safe community and provide quality services.
Residential Street Light Program :
The criteria of the "Street Light Program" is to mark the street intersections, bus stops, and entrances to public facilities and to assist motorists in finding and anticipating them after dark.
What is Low Impact Development?
Low Impact Development (LID) is an innovative stormwater management approach with a basic principle that is modeled after nature: manage rainfall at the source using uniformly distributed decentralized micro-scale controls. LID's goal is to mimic a site's predevelopment hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to its source. Techniques are based on the premise that stormwater management should not be seen as stormwater disposal. Instead of conveying and managing / treating stormwater in large, costly end-of-pipe facilities located at the bottom of drainage areas, LID addresses stormwater through small, cost-effective landscape features located at the lot level. These landscape features, known as Integrated Management Practices (IMPs), are the building blocks of LID. Almost all components of the urban environment have the potential to serve as an IMP. This includes not only open space, but also rooftops, streetscapes, parking lots, sidewalks, and medians. LID is a versatile approach that can be applied equally well to new development, urban retrofits, and redevelopment / revitalization projects.
Low Impact Development Practices:
Rain Barrels
Low cost collection devices connected to your downspout that store roof runoff for later use. Using rain water for watering plants or washing your car can lower your water fill and decrease demand during times of drought. See our Power Point under "Documents, Forms & Maps" titled Rain Barrels on a "how to" build your own rain barrel.
Rain Gardens
Also called bio-retention areas, are depressed perennial or shrub gardens with both water and drought-tolerant plants. Rain gardens manage runoff by collecting rain water from rooftops and lawns into the garden, where it can infiltrate into the ground. Rain gardens are designed to hold water for only a few hours after a storm, so there is limited opportunity for mosquitoes to breed.
Swales
Broad, shallow channels along roads, driveways and parking lots. Properly designed and maintained swales can trap pollutants, increase groundwater recharge and slow the flow of runoff, reducing erosion. (Palm Coast has approximately 1,100+ miles of roadside swales)