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Riverbend Environmental Education Center    Project Details

Thu Mar 19, 2009

A pervious parking lot and bio-infiltration areas were installed to slow and filter stormwater runoff to Saw Mill Run, a direct tributary to the Schuylkill River.  Now the first stop on the REEC tour, visitors learn how stormwater sinks through the new surface and into areas where ground infiltration can occur, reducing stormwater velocity and pollution in the creek. 

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  • Educational signage onsite teaches visitors about the importance of responsible stormwater management.

    Riverbend Environmental Education Center

    Date: Apr, 29, 2009

    When installed in a highly visible public place, and accompanied by attractive and informative signage, an on-the-ground Best Management Practice (BMP) project turns into an effective public education and outreach tool. This is the case at the Riverbend Environmental Education Center (REEC) in Gladwyne, PA which hosts over 10,000 visitors each year. Nestled among 30 wooded acres, the REEC parking lot sits on the banks of Saw Mill Run, a first-order tributary to the Schuylkill River. Stormwater runoff from both the parking lot and Spring Mill Road formerly flowed directly into the stream, contributing to stream bank erosion and threatening the delicate stream ecosystem with contaminants such as sediment, chemicals, litter, and engine fluids. Frequent wash-outs of the compacted ground lot were also a problem. Funds from the Schuylkill Watershed Initiative Grant and other sources allowed REEC to design and construct some new solutions for its parking area problems. The solution was a pervious parking lot with bio-infiltration areas that slow runoff, absorbing and filtering more stormwater before it reaches the stream.

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