Ventura County Public Works Agency earns top honors at American Society of Civil Engineers awards

VENTURA, Calif. - Feb. 10, 2015 - PRLog -- The Santa Barbara/Ventura Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers has selected the Ventura County Government Center Parking Lot Green Streets Retrofit Project as 2014 Project of the Year.

The new development is a project of the Ventura County Public Works Agency’s Watershed Protection District (VCPWA WPD), helmed by Stormwater Program Manager Ewelina Mutkowska and Water Quality Engineer David Kirby, which was recognized for benefiting the community, its application of engineering principals, overcoming challenges and success of process. At least 10 projects were nominated for the award; the VCPWA WPD project is one of two that will be honored at the ASCE banquet on Thursday, Feb. 19.

In spring 2012, VCPWA WPD began working on the project that would replace traditional concrete gutters in the Ventura County Government Center’s 39-acre parking lot with a pervious concrete gutter system that captures, treats and infiltrates runoff from the existing impervious surfaces. The innovative design provides a low cost and low maintenance option for removing stormwater pollution during the most contaminated First Flush portion of each storm. Over 5,000-linear-feet of pervious concrete gutters and over 13,000-square-feet of pervious concrete strips were constructed to capture over 200,000 gallons of First Flush runoff per event.