A qualitative assessment tool for ecologically based stormwater systems

A qualitative ecological health assessment was developed for application to ecologically designed stormwater systems to enhance post-implementation monitoring and maintenance efforts. The assessment was based on qualitative soil and rangeland assessments from the literature. The assessment was applied to two stormwater systems in northeastern Kansas, both of which were designed after the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. One of the sites was a stormwater basin with well-established prairie grasses; the other was reseeded with prairie grasses at the beginning of the study period. With the difference in vegetation age at the sites, the sensitivity of the assessment to vegetative and ecological maturity could be ascertained. An overall health score was determined based on observations of the vegetation, soil health, erosion indicators, and fauna at the site. In general, ecological health scores at the older, more established site were higher, indicating that the ecological health, and presumably the functionality of the system, improves over time. Observations at both sites point to the need for maintenance regimes that will ensure the continuance of ecosystem processes. Initial results indicated that the application of an ecological health assessment such as the one developed for this study could help in making post-installation monitoring efforts more successful.