A Study of Stormwater Management in Albuquerque

by William Fanning Architect │ October 15, 2020

This study is about management of stormwater runoff in Albuquerque. It began with a question: How can the City justify destroying a much-beloved, 80-year-old park, by converting it to a 10’ deep drainage basin that might be used once a year to harness runoff from a brief but heavy thunderstorm? Further, how can the City justify the same fate for another 12 parks scattered around Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights for the same purpose? Are there alternatives to stormwater management that begin with water as an asset rather than a problem to be disposed of?

The genesis of this inquiry is the City’s pending plan to reconstruct Twin Parks as a detention pond to contain runoff coming from the nearby Pueblo Alto subdivision to the east. Specifically, flooding has occurred in recent years in the 800 block of Jefferson NE. Before platting and construction, this immediate area was crossed by a natural arroyo. Developed in a typical orthogonal grid pattern common in western cities, the Pueblo Alto subdivision design ignored natural topography. An underground storm system constructed to carry a 100-year flood volume was under-designed. As a result, several localized floods have occurred in this section of Jefferson NE over the years.

To read the full article click this link:     Stormwater