Last week marked the opening of Black Hoof Park in Lenexa,
Kansas. The 300-acre park combines recreational features like hiking trails and
a playground with stormwater features like bioretention cells, wetlands, and a
dam for flood control. The 35-acre Lake Lenexa, which provides regional
detention for the area, is also stocked with several species of fish, and
recreational fishing is encouraged.
It’s always a pleasure to see
something done well, and Lenexa, with its long-term planning that has
incorporated stormwater for more than a decade, does many things right. The city
made the decision early on to make stormwater management a visible part of its
ongoing development and to integrate it with community benefits where possible.
Water-quality officials from
Lenexa have given presentations several times at StormCon on the city’s planning
process, low-impact development strategies, and other aspects of its stormwater
program and will be giving another this August in Anaheim.
Are there similar multi-use
projects in your city that have been particularly successful? Share them with
us—leave a comment and add links to photos or descriptions below.