CITY NEWS BRIEF
Green Infrastructure Project Seeks to Manage Stormwater Runoff in Creative, Sustainable Way and Improve Water Quality in Capisic Brook
A stormwater project in Sagamore Village will be the first of its kind and of this scale for Portland. Spearheaded by the City’s Public Works Water Resources team, this green infrastructure project seeks to manage stormwater runoff in a creative, sustainable way. In addition, the Sagamore Village rain garden project should improve water quality in Capisic Brook.
The $1.8 million project will install thirty-two rain gardens in Sagamore Village. The natural structures will absorb and treat stormwater runoff for nearly seventeen acres of watershed. Normally this runoff would drain from the streets into Capisic Brook. Soon, these rain gardens will remove pollutants from the water through soil filtration. Meanwhile, nutrients present in the stormwater, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, will help plantings thrive.
Work on this project is anticipated to begin in early April 2023 and conclude by October 31, 2023. The overall goal of this project is to improve water quality in Capisic Brook which is classified as an Urban Impaired stream by the Maine DEP.
Along with filtering of the stormwater, the rain gardens will provide aesthetic appeal and neighborhood beautification. The project also aims to provide minor traffic calming. The rain gardens will reduce overall street widths at several locations.
The City’s water resources staff developed this project to comply with the City’s Capisic Brook Watershed Management Plan – adopted by the City of Portland in 2012. Completion of this project is a permit requirement as part of the City’s stormwater MS4 permit being administered by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The permit requires that the project be completed by July 1st, 2025.
Learn more about the Sagamore Village Green Infrastructure Project at https://www.portlandmaine.gov/1362/Sagamore-Village-Green-Infrastructure-Pr.
