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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHerreraCitywideLandscapeAssessmentProposal.pdf{ Citywide Landscape Assessment Prepared for: City of Diamond Bar Prepared by: Herrera Environmental Consultants, Inc. September 27, 2024 All provisions in this proposal are valid for 90 days. Contents 1 Project Team 4 Firm’s Experience/ References 6 Methodology/Project Understanding 9 Cost of Services 9 Insurance 9 Consultant Services Agreement September 27, 2024 City of Diamond Bar 21810 Copley Dr. Diamond Bar, CA 91765 Dear Selection Committee, Diamond Bar’s Citywide landscape assessment presents an exciting opportunity to create a comprehensive, science-based evaluation that will guide the City in optimizing the use of Recovered Organic Waste Products (ROWP). Our goal is to identify the most effective methods for integrating ROWP throughout urban landscapes to enhance ecological functions, reduce water consumption, and control invasive vegetation. Herrera is dedicated to leveraging organic materials to improve natural ecosystems through practical, real-world solutions. We are passionate about harnessing the potential of these resources to achieve sustainable, environmentally-friendly outcomes. By applying our broad in-house expertise, we aim to support the City in developing strategies that benefit the environment and contribute to resilient and vibrant urban landscapes. Highlights of the Herrera team: •Herrera has supported hundreds of projects focused on planning, designing,permitting, and/or constructing stormwater management and landscaperestoration initiatives. This includes decades of work investigating and utilizingcompost and specialized soil media to address specific stormwater pollutants.Herrera brings the latest scientific understanding of how various organic andinorganic materials actually perform in the field over their design life. •Our interdisciplinary team comprises not only landscape architects but alsowater quality scientists, ecologists, solid waste engineers, spatial scientists, andplanners. This diverse expertise enables us to provide the City withcomprehensive support on the broader context of this important project, and toensure that the results maximize the City’s ecological, operational, financial, andaesthetic goals. • We regularly work directly with municipal O&M staff, including developing andimplementing specialized trainings on landscape lifecycle success. Herrera is excited to work with the City of Diamond Bar on this forward-looking project. Thank you for considering our team. Sincerely, Kate Forester Project Manager and Landscape Designer Herrera Environmental Consultants, Inc. kforester@herrerainc.com | phone 971.200.8876 Theresa Wood Vice President Herrera Environmental Consultants, Inc. twood@herrerainc.com | phone 206.441.8090 City of Diamond Bar Citywide Landscape Assessment | Page 1 B. Project Team Herrera is an innovative, employee-owned firm with a staff of 150 passionate and client-focused landscape architects, scientists, planners, engineers, and construction experts. For this project Herrera brings together our expertise in landscape architecture, solid waste, science, ecology, and GIS, combined with 40 years of experience focused on the needs of public clients. Our goal is to create robust, lasting solutions that help communities meet their sustainability goals in practical and meaningful ways. Our team is organized to provide the multidisciplinary skills needed to support the City on this project. Our project manager, Kate Forester, PLA brings a unique combination of experience to the project with her work on municipal landscape architecture, compost guidance and training, work with operations and maintance staff, and ecological expertise. As a project manager, Kate works diligently to make informed project decisions, communicate with interdisciplinary teams, and ensure that all her team’s work products are high quality. Jenn Schmidt, GISP will be our GIS Lead, responsible for coordinating with the City’s Information Systems (IS) team and integrating the project’s spatial assessment goals with the on-the-ground assessment work. Jenn is an expert spatial scientist and has worked with teams to develop suitability criteria for environmental projects across a variety of geographies and ecologies. Dylan Ahearn, PhD, will serve as our Water Quality Lead. Dylan brings experience creating and testing organic material blends and their impacts and benefits to water resources. Rayna Gleason will be our Field Biologist and Arborist, responsible for analyzing appropirate landscape applications of the available organic materials. This core team will be supported by Herrera’s broad staff of engineers, scientists, and solid waste planners to support the City in all aspects of this project work. Figure 1. Organization of Project Team City of Diamond Bar Citywide Landscape Assessment | Page 2 Kate Forester, PLA | Project Manager Principal Landscape Designer Kate Forester is a landscape designer, a licensed landscape architect in Oregon and Washington states, with 25 years of experience in natural resource management, planning, and design. Kate’s expertise is focused on functional ecological design. Kate is recognized as a regional leader in maintenance best practices for green infrastructure and has been a lead instructor for low impact development (LID) operation and maintanence courses as well as trainings designed specifically for nurseries and landscaping businesses. She has led the landscape architecture design of regional stormwater parks, dispersed stormwater facilities, ecological restoration projects, and sustainable urban development projects. She is often hired in a role to evaluate and make recommendations for post construction projects and project life cycle assessments where projects are not functioning as designed. As a project manager, Kate is meticulous in her coordination with the client, project team, and regulatory agencies to achieve project outcomes that are sensitive to site conditions, realistic maintenance requirements, and long- term project goals. CREDENTIALS M.L.A. in Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota, 2009 B.S. in Environmental Studies, University of Oregon, 2006 Registered Landscape Architect #875, Oregon, 2015 Registered Landscape Architect #1448, Washington, 2016 Jennifer Schmidt, GISP | GIS Lead Spatial Science Principal Jenn Schmidt is a GIS Specialist with 20 years of experience using GIS and related technologies to analyze and map environmental data and model geospatial trends. Jenn is adept at synthesizing highly technical spatial data from multiple sources into attractive maps, tables, interactive tools, and other visuals that are tailored to be easily understood by a variety of audiences. She specializes in designing analyses that help her clients stretch their planning dollars as far as possible. Jenn frequently uses GIS to perform spatial analyses such as helping to identify and prioritize areas that are feasible for implementing low impact development measures; assessing the equity of recycling services at the county scale; developing easy-to-use “heat maps” highlighting locations for multi-benefit capital projects; and creating a GIS model to map shallow infiltration potential. Jenn is also experienced in developing interactive web-based maps and field data collection tools to help streamline data sharing with our clients, stakeholders, and the public. CREDENTIALS MAS in Spatial Analysis for Public Health, Johns Hopkins, 2019 BA in Geography – GIS Emphasis, University of Washington, 2004 Penn State, Graduate Certificate in Applied Statistics, 2017 Certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP), GIS Certification Institute, 2010 City of Diamond Bar Citywide Landscape Assessment | Page 3 Dylan Ahearn, PhD| Water Quality Scientist Principal Scientist Dylan is a water quality scientist working on the cutting edge of bioretention media research, low impact development (LID), and environmental data collection. Involved with several high profile LID projects, and stormwater treatment device research, development, and verification, Dylan has rigorous real-world experience that he uses to inform his teams’ designs. Through his work in LID research and design over the past 20 years, Dylan has gained particular expertise in bioretention soil media and compost amendment optimization, soil media hydraulics, and performance characteristics of vegetated roofs and infiltration BMPs. Dylan has conducted research on biochar and microrhysal amendments to compost-based media to reduce excess nutrient export and has developed custom soil media blends designed to treat specific pollutants such as phosphorus. CREDENTIALS PhD in Hydrology, University of California, 2004 BA in Geology, Guilford College, 1996 Rayna Gleason | Field Biologist/Arborist Project Ecologist Rayna Gleason is an ecologist and ISA certified arborist with 17 years of experience specializing in urban forestry and habitat restoration. She designs resilient plant palettes for tree medians, stormwater bioretention systems, and urban landscapes, advising municipalities on climate-adaptive plant palettes that integrate native and ornamental species. Rayna works primarily in urban areas, conducting tree inventories, tree risk assessments, designing city plantings and street tree lists, and working in larger urban parks to create both native habitats and ornamental gardens. Her expertise spans diverse plant communities, from the mesic Pacific Northwest to high desert, with a focus on sustainable, low-maintenance designs. She also oversees tree management during construction and installation to ensure project success. CREDENTIALS BLA in Landscape Architecture (Horticulture emphasis), University of Rhode Island/2007 ISA Certified Arborist/International Society of Arboriculture/NY-5710A/2011 ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ), 2019 City of Diamond Bar Citywide Landscape Assessment | Page 4 C. Firm’s Experience/References Similar Projects Stormwater Pond Retrofit and Bioretention Soil Media Guidance, City of Parlier, CA As part of the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), local agencies are expected to coordinate on methods to sustainably manage groundwater at a local level. As a member of the local Groundwater Sustainability Agency, the City of Parlier (City) agreed to explore use of their existing stormwater basins for increased wet and dry weather runoff capture and infiltration. As part of this effort, the City was selected for Proposition 1 Stormwater Technical Assistance, which was provided by the Council for Watershed Health and Herrera. Herrera helped the City evaluate and plan for managing stormwater and irrigation flows draining from the 132-acre Richard Flores basin to a terminal retention basin. Because the existing and future use of the basin is also as a playfield, there was a strong desire to provide water quality treatment of stormwater and irrigation runoff prior to the flows entering the primary basin. As part of this effort, Herrera evaluated the use of Bioretention Soil Media (BSM) to treat pesticide and herbicides that may be present in flows routed to the Richard Flores retention basin. Herrera provided the City with information including types of BSM (e.g., biochar, compost, GAC), their typical use (e.g., pollutant types treated), recommended BSM type(s) for the project, and regional cost and availability (suppliers). Herrera also prepared an example of a typical BSM soil specification that represents the type of information that could be included in future project bid packages. Barton Bioretention Facility Retrofit, King County, WA King County determined that deficiencies in plant survival required updating and revising the original design for several green streets installed within the Delridge neighborhood in West Seattle. Herrera led the analysis and retrofit design for these facilities. Designs needed to resolve two primary issues: 1) significant bare areas with exposed soils existed within rain gardens and adjacent landscapes, and 2) many of the plant species had become overgrown and aggressive and required a high level of site maintenance by the County’s landscape maintenance contractor to maintain health and public acceptability. Herrera worked with the maintenance crews overseeing these sites to identify various causes for plant failures and on collaborative solutions crews felt confident in maintaining. Compost Amended Vegetated Filter Strips Study, Washington State Department of Transportation Roadside embankments that receive sheet flow from adjacent road surfaces are a common feature along the highways. To begin to quantify the amount of treatment and infiltration that occurs in roadside embankments, Herrera designed and implemented a roadside embankment monitoring project for the Washington State Department of Transportation. The project entailed the installation of 80-foot overland flow collectors located at measured distances from the edge-of-pavement Organization: Transportation Owner Contact: Richard Tveten (previously with WSDOT, now with WDFW), Project Manager, Richard.tveten@dfw.wa.gov Address: 310 Maple Park Ave SE, Olympia, WA 98504 Phone: 360.902.2200 Dates: 2007-2008 Organization: Council for Watershed Health Owner Contact: Darla Elswick, Project Manager, darla@darlaelswick.com Address: 177 E Colorado Blvd, Suite 200 Pasadena, CA 91105 Phone: 213.229.9945 Dates: 2024 Organization: King County, WA Owner Contact: Natalie Izzo, Project Manager, nizzo@kingcounty.gov Address: 201 S Jackson Street, Room 505 MS KSC-NR-0505 Seattle, Washington 98104 Phone: 206.573.4491 Dates: 2018-2022 City of Diamond Bar Citywide Landscape Assessment | Page 5 at four different monitoring sites. Flow was routed from the runoff collectors to downslope Parshall flumes equipped with pressure transducers. Remotely linked data loggers recorded hydrologic parameters and triggered automated samplers during targeted storm events. The results from this study indicated that standard roadside embankments (not designed to be stormwater treatment facilities) are highly effective at removing sediment and particulate nutrients and metals. However, dissolved pollutant concentrations increased with distance from the pavement. The inference of this finding was that amending roadside embankments with media that target dissolved pollutants could be a highly effective and affordable best management practice. Low Impact Development Training for Nurseries and Landscaping Businesses, Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) When new low impact development (LID) requirements made Washington State stormwater regulations some of the toughest in the country, Ecology hired Herrera to help educate on-the-ground landscape and nursery practitioners. The trainings covered the new requirements, how to correctly install and maintain LID features to design specifications, and what the best services and supplies are to offer NPDES-permitted and other customers. As on-the-ground designers, suppliers, and maintainers of landscaped and green spaces across the state, it was critical that nurseries and landscape professionals were properly trained and fully capable of incorporating these new requirements into their daily work. Nurseries faced new specialty plant and soil mix requests, retail nurseries wanted to provide new design and maintenance tips to their customers, and wholesale nurseries who service public jurisdictions needed to be prepared with appropriate materials. Longfellow Starts Here, Seattle, WA Longfellow Starts here is Seattle Public Utilities’ (SPU’s) first community-centered infrastructure project. The project seeks to leverage investments in the Longfellow Creek basin to maximize water quality and community benefits (while meeting their NPDES permit requirements). To help SPU identify project sites through an equity lens, Herrera piloted a mapping approach to highlight multi-benefit opportunity areas. “Needs” maps highlight areas of need for improved community mobility, parks access, or opportunities for collaboration between SPU and other City departments. Racial and social equity mapping was also part of the Needs mapping, which included synthesizing race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and health data into a block group-level vulnerability score. “Feasibility” maps highlight areas where water quality projects (e.g., stormwater parks, roadside bioretention) are feasible. By overlapping these maps, the team is identifying the best locations to stretch capital dollars and align with community priorities. Herrera’s LID Leadership Herrera’s Low Impact Development (LID)/Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) practice is recognized as a leader in the research, policy, training, planning, design, and monitoring of LID/GSI including various organic and biorentention soil media. Herrera brings over a dozen years of experience on LID/GSI program development, planning, facility design, and post construction monitoring for the City of Seattle and King County, WA; and the City and County of San Francisco, CA (among others). Herrera develops and tests bioretention soil medias to target specific pollutants and ecological outcomes. City of Diamond Bar Citywide Landscape Assessment | Page 6 D. Methodology/Project Understanding The City of Diamond Bar is seeking a comprehensive landscape assessment to determine strategic locations where soil amendments that comply with “Recovered Organic Waste Product” (ROWP) criteria can be placed as part of routine maintenance to enhance ecological and aesthetic functions of soils across City-managed landscapes. The City currently has an agreement with a direct service provider to assist with the procurement compliance of material targets defined by SB 1383’s Recovered Organic Wast Product. In addition to identifying areas where soil amendments might improve landscape performance and reduce maintenance costs, the goals of this project include completing an analysis of which amendment materials are appropriate to use within differing landcover types, recommendation rates and schedules for the application of amendments to various landscape areas, and an analysis of the materials and labor costs associated with implementing this program as part of a routine maintenance regime. The project will be executed following the thoughtful process outlined by the City of Diamond Bar. Part I of the project will begin with an area assessment that will produce a series of data and maps of potential soil amendment locations for review by the City. Part II will include an investigation of locally available amendment materials, their associated feedstocks/source material and qualities, and application strategies and procedures for each material. Part III of the project will be the creation of a comprehensive report that summarizes the research and findings from Part I and II. The report will be provided in a format that is user-friendly, easily digestible, and able to support decision-making and next steps for the City. Further detail of how Herrera will proceed with each of these project phases is provided within the next section. Part I – Area Assessment Project Kickoff Meeting The Herrera project manager and data analysis lead will meet virtually with City staff to review the project criteria, objectives, procedures, and schedules to ensure the team is in alignment with City needs and expectations. Herrera will also learn how City staff prefer to communicate and collaborate within the project process and project deliverables. Data Collection and Analysis, Field Verification, and Mapping Herrera will coordinate with City’s Public Works Information System (IS) team to identify and collect existing data, and will augment this with spatial data from public sources as needed. Herrera will then identify any data gaps that might impact the siting and analysis of amendment strategies, and strategies to mitigate these gaps. The analyses described in this task will focus on public right of ways (PROWs) and other locations owned or maintained by City staff, including but not limited to parks, streetscapes, and medians. After the data has been compiled, Herrera will complete a desktop analysis to map landscaped areas of the City using aerial photography, available GIS data, and Google Earth. Herrera will then coordinate with the City to develop a list of screening and prioritization criteria to help further identify the optimal locations for the placement of various organic amendments. Criteria will include metrics designed to map where placement is feasible and most beneficial. For example, Diamond Bar is characterized by areas of steep topography in general, so slope might be considered a limiting factor (but not necessarily a disqualifying factor). Other criteria might include stream and surface water proximity and buffers, other critical areas, adjacent land uses, vegetation cover, utility conflicts, land ownership, patch size, sun exposure, and soil type. Herrera will then City of Diamond Bar Citywide Landscape Assessment | Page 7 perform a GIS analysis to apply these criteria and develop a series of maps identifying suitable area polygons with a potential benefit score assigned to each. Two Herrera staff, a landscape designer and arborist, will perform corresponding in-person field verification and refinement of the desktop mapping. Field analysis will verify the boundaries of application areas as well as areas of opportunity or challenges not detected within the desktop analysis. For example, areas may be revised based on ease of application and maintenance (e.g., site access, topography, etc.), presence of invasive vegetation, and equity of access to high quality habitat or landscapes. The field information will be used to update the GIS mapping and to produce revised maps. Data and Figure Reporting and Presentation to City Data and information gathered during the desktop and field investigations will be compiled into a report documenting square footage for potential amendment management areas. A draft of this report will be presented to the City for review and comment, followed by a virtual page-turn meeting to discuss City comments and inform final report compilation. Part II – Material Recommendation and Budget In Part II of the project, Herrera will begin by meeting with City operations and maintenance (O&M) staff to gain a better understanding of soil amendment materials are currently used across City-managed landscapes (if any), and which application methods and tools are part of standard landscape maintenance practices. Likewise, Herrera will gather information on O&M questions, concerns, and ideas regarding the application of ROWP organic materials to ensure that solutions resulting from this task take into consideration current City staff expertise and input. It has been our experience on many similar projects that municipal O&M staff bring invaluable knowledge and expertise about local landscape conditions, nuances, challenges, etc. It is essential to involve and work with O&M staff when developing new procedures and requirements, especially when considering new materials and techniques. While coordinating with O&M staff, Herrera will also review the types of organic materials available locally by conducting outreach to amendment suppliers (building on prior work performed by the City). Outreach will include research into the parent materials of all products, quality control measures, the time frames for production and creation of products, and delivery timing and strategies. Research will also include an investigation into material stockpiling and methods for distribution and application. In addition to our landscape design and maintenance work, Herrera brings decades of experience in solid waste planning, management, engineering, and operations (including handling organic waste) and will use this familiarity to ensure critical landscape-related material issues are reviewed and assessed. Merging the results of the Part I analysis and mapping with the information gathered in Part II above, Herrera will work with City O&M staff (and other City staff) to determine which materials are most appropriate for the identified needs and characteristics of each landscape area reviewed. While the City has already identified a supplier and committed to a quantity of amendments to be installed in the near future, Herrera will evaluate and document potential suppliers, materials, delivery, and application methods available for an on-going amendment program. City of Diamond Bar Citywide Landscape Assessment | Page 8 Herrera will create a series of specifications, standard operating procedures (SOPS), and/or best practices to guide use of ROWP in City applications. This will include but not be limited to: • Material blend – including sieve test sizes, specific soil content specification and density, testing mechanisms and requirements, etc. Recommendations can be included for site-specific soil amendments (such as biochar, recycled arborist wood chip mulch, etc.) to best address plant, ecologic, O&M, and aesthetic goals. • Application thickness – considering slopes, sun exposure/irrigation, plant palates, complimentary amendments, etc. • Timing of application – considering seasonality, material availability, staff schedules, and other site- specific objectives. • Site preparation approaches – including access, weeding, tilling, fencing, terracing, etc. • Recommended methods of securing material in sloped areas, high traffic areas, areas with increased public use, and other spaces that require special considerations for application. Options to consider may include use of sterile seed cover crops, native seed mixes, and temporary erosion control methods such as coir matting and coir logs. • Operational and maintenance considerations – focused on tailoring the site-specific considerations outlined above with O&M staff tools and practices to optimize efficiency, as well as long-term soil health and function. To summarize the findings of Parts I and II, Herrera will create a matrix to match soil amendment types, source locations, recommended application rates, application timing and maintenance frequencies, costs, and notes regarding site preparation requirements and additional information required for successful application in the City. A summary document will be prepared that includes the matrix, capturing and summarizing a clear overview of management options, applications, and their relative costs. Herrera will meet with the City to discuss findings and receive City input on all deliverables and research to determine actions for the compilation of a final report. Part III – Final Report Compilation Herrera will compile all of the information assembled and produced within Parts I and II of this project into a single, cohesive, easily digestible document that will help the City move forward with decision making and implementation of an amendment program. Herrera works with landscaping and soil amendment specifications in a range of complex applications including dense urban areas, xeriscapes, areas that receive little to no maintenance, wetlands, sensitive habitats, reclaimed landfills and mines, coastlines, and in superfund sites. This diversity of project types has created an understanding of how important proper soil health and the use of proper soil amendments are for each project. These lessons will be folded into the recommendations developed for the City of Diamond Bar’s unique needs and setting. Part IV – Optional Services The City of Diamond Bar has provided a thorough and well-thought-out scope of work to accomplish the landscape assessment goals of this project. Herrera does not see any notable gaps in the City’s scope of work and therefore has not included an additional necessary work items in the cost proposal presented below. City of Diamond Bar Citywide Landscape Assessment | Page 9 However, once the assessment is completed, we assume the City will embark on an effort to implement the findings of the assessment to begin amending and enhancing landscaped areas throughout the City. At that time, the City may decide that additional services are needed or desired to support the project (i.e., outside of the scope described within Parts I through III). Herrera would be pleased to support any future work with the City on this important effort and would be glad to partner with the City in developing similarly detailed scopes to define tasks, methods, deliverables, and costs. Suggested implementation tasks may include, but are not limited to, the following types of services: • The coordination of and/or direct sampling of available amendment products • Development and/or implementation of training programs specific to soil amendments • Development of a monitoring plan to evaluate the soil amendment program • Development of graphics and outreach materials to support community engagement and education regarding a City amendment plan • Development of an interactive StoryMap to share the process and outcomes with the public and other project partners These types of implementation tasks would occur outside of the scope and budget presented in this proposal and are not included in the proposed cost of services. E. Cost for Services A detailed cost for services is provided on the following page. F. Insurance Available upon request. G. Consultant Services Agreement Herrera does not anticipate any issues with the Consultant Services Agreement. City of Diamond Bar Citywide Landscape Assessment | Page 10 A P P E N D I X 1 R E S U M E S KATHRYN S. FORESTER, PLA PRINCIPAL LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT / ROLE: PROJECT MANAGER Kate Forester is a landscape designer, a licensed landscape architect in Oregon and Washington states, with 25 years of experience in natural resource management, planning, and design. Kate’s expertise is focused on functional ecological design. Kate is recognized as a regional leader in maintenance best practices for green infrastructure and has been a lead instructor for low impact development operation and maintenance courses as well as trainings designed specifically for nurseries and landscaping businesses. She has led the landscape architecture design of regional stormwater parks, dispersed stormwater facilities, ecological restoration projects, and sustainable urban development projects. She is often hired in a role to evaluate and make recommendations for post construction projects and project life cycle assessments where projects are not functioning as designed. As a project manager, Kate is meticulous in her coordination with the client, project team, and regulatory agencies to achieve project outcomes that are sensitive to site conditions, realistic maintenance requirements, and long-term project goals. C R E D E N T I A L S M.L.A. in Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota, 2009 B.S. in Environmental Studies, University of Oregon, 2006 Registered Landscape Architect #875, Oregon, 2015 Registered Landscape Architect #1448, Washington, 2016 K E Y P R O J E C T E X P E R I E N C E SAN DIEGO COUNTY COMMUNITY FOCUSED STORMWATER PROJECTS , SAN DIEGO , CA Kate is the lead landscape architect for Herrera on this project. The County of San Diego is investing in Community-Focused Stormwater Improvement Partnerships to build multi-benefit water quality improvement projects on private properties in unincorporated areas of San Diego County. The County identified the Spring Valley Special Drainage Area 1 as a priority area for green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). At the heart of the project, a community-focused engagement process will gain input from stakeholders and the public regarding their priorities related to stormwater, flooding, and other co-benefits. Engagement will also focus on empowering the community through education, promoting inclusivity, and providing transparency. Based on community input and technical analysis, the team will identify, prioritize, and design GSI retrofit projects that best deliver stormwater and community benefits. Herrera is supporting a comprehensive spatial analysis to screen and prioritize candidate parcels that are most likely to support multiple benefits. Herrera is also leading the development of Preliminary Engineering Reports for design alternatives on three candidate parcels. LAUSD DESIGNING FOR HEALTHY SCHOOLYARDS, LOS ANGELES, CA Kate is the project manager for this important project to create healthy elementary schools in Los Angeles. To address the need for greener, more engaging educational spaces in disadvantaged communities within Los Angeles County, the Council for Watershed Health and Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) have begun a green schoolyards design project funded by Cal Fire’s Green Schoolyards Program. Herrera, working closely with community based organizations as KATE FORESTER, PLA partners, is taking a lead role in this transformative endeavor, and is responsible for designing green schoolyards for three of the eight selected LAUSD schools. The work involves comprehensive design leadership, team coordination, and active engagement with the school communities. This project showcases Herrera’s commitment to creating educational spaces that are both environmentally sustainable and reflective of the unique needs of each school community, laying the groundwork for additional, similar projects in the future. ALHAMBRA GREEN STREET FEASIBILITY STUDY, ALHAMBRA, CA Kate was the senior landscape designer overseeing the landscape architecture elements for Herrera’s work with the City of Alhambra on the Green Street Demonstration Project on Main Street (along with project partners Paradigm and Toole Design). The project includes a series of roadside bioretention cells totaling 15,000 square feet of BMP footprint area, as well as reconfigured parking and roadway striping, to provide water quality treatment and infiltration to 21 acres of contributing roadway area. Kate provided review and input to the stormwater design team helping strategize on a planting palette that would maximize stormwater performance, community benefit, habitat biodiversity, and adaptability for the local climate. The project will provide multiple benefits to the neighborhood and surrounding environment including beautifying the street, reducing stormwater runoff volumes and pollutant loads, enhanced open space, native plantings and habitat, as well as a demonstration to the public of the benefits of green infrastructure. The project design served as the foundation for the City’s successful Urban Greening Grant, Green Street Demonstration Project. WSDOT SR 167 RIPARIAN RESTORATION PROGRAM , FIFE, MILTON, AND EDGEWATER, WA WSDOT is currently developing the preliminary design of this project, which involves approximately 6 miles of new interstate highway amid a flat and wet landscape. Herrera has lead responsibility for the relocation and restoration of Hylebos Creek and tributary streams, floodplain mitigation, wetland mitigation, and stormwater management elements of this new highway project. Kate is the landscape architect leading the complex habitat restoration and enhancement design that is reconnecting key landscape habitats, including large wetland complexes, floodplain forest, alluvial stream channels, and riparian forests. Interesting design aspects include a beaver deterrent planting area, native turtle and beaver attraction design, and saline transition zones that account for gradual change in stream elevations and downstream salinity anticipated from climate change. LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT (LID) MAINTENANCE STANDARDS, GUIDANCE, AND TRAINING , WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY, WA Herrera produced an O&M guidance document for LID BMPs that is easy to understand yet provides a rigorous set of peer reviewed standards and procedures that will ensure the long-term performance of these systems. Herrera also prepared an effective training and outreach program that will ensure the information developed through this effort is delivered to the intended audience and provides the maximum benefit to local jurisdictions. Kate was involved in both the creation of the O&M guidance document for the LID BMPs, as well as developing and administering the training and outreach program. ECOLOGY CODE UPDATE TRAININGS , WA Kate worked on an Ecology-funded project to develop LID Code Update and Integration Training and supporting materials for Western and Eastern Washington permittees. Kate was one of the trainers leading the classes designed to guide permittees through the permit requirements, take them through a six-step process to successfully revised their code, and provide lessons learned and a learning community to support the code revision effort. BARTON BIORETENTION FACILITY RETROFIT, SEATTLE, WA King County determined that deficiencies in plant survival required updating and revising the original rain garden design for several green streets installed within the Delridge neighborhood in West Seattle. Kate led the analysis and retrofit design for these facilities. This included working with the maintenance crews overseeing these sites on identifying various causes for plant failures and on collaborative solutions they felt confident in maintaining. JENN SCHMIDT, GISP SPATIAL SCIENCE DIRECTOR / ROLE: Jenn Schmidt is a GIS Specialist with 20 years of experience using GIS and related technologies to analyze and map environmental data and model geospatial trends. Jenn is adept at synthesizing highly technical spatial data from multiple sources into attractive maps, tables, interactive tools, and other visuals that are tailored to be easily understood by a variety of audiences. She specializes in designing analyses that help her clients stretch their planning dollars as far as possible. Jenn frequently uses GIS to perform spatial analyses such as helping to identify and prioritize areas that are feasible for implementing low impact development measures; assessing the equity of recycling services at the county scale; developing easy-to-use “heat maps” highlighting locations for multi-benefit capital projects; and creating a GIS model to map shallow infiltration potential. Jenn is also experienced in developing interactive web-based maps and field data collection tools to help streamline data sharing with our clients, stakeholders, and the public. C R E D E N T I A L S MAS in Spatial Analysis for Public Health, Johns Hopkins, 2019 BA in Geography – GIS Emphasis, University of Washington, 2004 Penn State, Graduate Certificate in Applied Statistics, 2017 Certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP), GIS Certification Institute, 2010 Visual Basic Programming Certificate, University of Washington, 2007 SQL Server Specialist Certificate, University of Washington, 2009 K E Y P R O J E C T E X P E R I E N C E DRINKING WATER QUALITY GEODATABASE DEVELOPMENT AND GIS RISK ANALYSES FOR THE CLACKAMAS RIVER WATER PROVIDERS , CLACKAMAS, OR The Clackamas River is a source of drinking water for more than 300,000 people in Clackamas County and is an important resource for helping to meet future water demand in the region. The Clackamas River Water Providers (CRWP) hired Herrera to develop a geodatabase and complete a series of GIS risk analyses analyzing potential threats to drinking water quality. In the first phase, Jenn completed a GIS needs assessment and built a Drinking Water Protection geodatabase containing hundreds of GIS datasets from dozens of public and private agencies. In the second phase, Jenn mapped potential threats to source water quality and assessed the relative risks associated with six major land use functions: septic systems, agriculture, forestry, vulnerable soils, urban development, and point source pollutants. Mapped “hot spots” for each category are being used by the CRWP to provide a spatial context for the location and relative intensity of risk posed by each activity. PORT OF SEATTLE LID FEASIBILITY STUDY AND PILOT PROJECT CONCEPTUAL DESIGN, SEATTLE, WA Herrera recently conducted a feasibility evaluation for Port of Seattle of LID BMPs to treat and manage stormwater to help identify where infiltration should be restricted, limited, and encouraged on Port property. Jenn Schmidt was the GIS Lead for this project and was responsible for reviewing BMP site suitability criteria tables for a suite of LID BMPs to identify JENN SCHMIDT, GISP which criteria could be spatially analyzed in GIS (such as slope, depth to groundwater, and property setbacks) and which should be assessed on a site-by-site basis. As part of this effort, Jenn coordinated with Port of Seattle GIS staff and other local, state, and federal agencies to compile available GIS datasets and assess its fitness for us in the GIS infeasibility analyses. She then ran a series of GIS analyses to filter out areas that were not feasible for implementing each LID BMP and developed a series of maps and table for the Port summarizing this analysis. CITY OF ARLINGTON CODE UPDATE AND GIS PRELIMINARY SITE ASSESSMENT TOOL DEVELOPMENT , ARLINGTON, WA Herrera worked with the City of Arlington on an effort to review the City's code and development guidelines to ensure compliance with the NPDES Phase II Permit LID requirements, including developing BMP-specific site suitability criteria tables. Jenn worked with City staff to complete a GIS analysis using these criteria and available GIS datasets to map areas of the City where infiltration should be restricted, limited, and encouraged. She also developed a GIS database and built a custom preliminary site assessment tool using Python that allows the City to quickly and easily summarize data on LID feasibility, critical areas, soil classes, and other relevant information at the parcel scale into two-page reports for stakeholders and developers. Jenn co-presented the results of this effort to City of Arlington department managers and received excellent feedback on the utility, effectiveness, and time-savings of the tool and LID feasibility analyses. The next phase of this project will involve sharing the tool with the public through an interactive web-based mapping portal. DEVELOP GIS TOOLS, BATCH PROCESSING MACROS, AND PROVIDE TRAINING IN SUPPORT OF THE FOREST SERVICE WATER EROSION PREDICTION PROJECT (WEPP) MODEL , US FOREST SERVICE, ROCKY MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION, MOSCOW, IDAHO Wildfires often increase sedimentation and erosion, and accurate predictions of post-fire sediment yields are critical to assess potential impacts on valued resources and assist in treatment decisions. To help streamline this effort, Herrera developed three tools for the Forest Service: batch processing macros for the Disturbed Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model and Erosion Risk Management Tool (ERMiT), and 2) a GIS toolbox to improve accuracy associated with predictions of sediment delivery. Jenn developed the user-friendly, step-by-step GIS toolbox to allow land managers with little to no GIS experience to streamline analysis by automating hillslope extraction from DEM data. This data can then be imported into the Disturbed WEPP and ERMiT batch processing macros and run over a large area of analysis. Herrera’s tools have greatly reduced the amount of effort for forest service scientists to analyze disturbed areas – one soils scientist reported that Herrera's batch processing macro for ERMiT allowed him to complete analysis for the 2011 Los Conchas Fire in a period of approximately 4 hours compared with a similar effort requiring 2-1/2 days of analysis for the Station Fire in California. SEATTLE PUBLIC UTILITIES LONGFELLOW STARTS HERE WATER QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE INTEGRATED PLAN , SEATTLE, WA Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is embarking on their first community-centered infrastructure and integrated planning project. The Longfellow Starts Here (LSH) project seeks to leverage investments in the basin to maximize water quality and community benefits while meeting the SPU Consent Decree requirements. As the GIS Lead for this effort, Jenn coordinated closely with SPU to pilot a mapping approach to highlight overlapping areas of SPU, City Family, and community needs with areas identified as potentially feasible for SPU infrastructure. The results of this effort are eleven “heat maps” showing the overlap of areas of need for things like water quality improvements and better parks and open space access with the areas that are most feasible for implementing green and gray infrastructure. In addition, Jenn worked with the Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) to develop a project-scale Racial and Social Equity Index map based on a composite of three racial and social equity indices: race/ethnicity, socioeconomics, and health. DYLAN AHEARN, PhD PRINCIPAL SCIENTIST/ ROLE: WATER QUALITY SCIENTIST Dylan is a water quality scientist working on the cutting edge of bioretention media research, low impact development, and environmental data collection. Involved with several high profile LID projects, and stormwater treatment device research, development, and verification, Dylan has rigorous real-world experience which he uses to inform his teams’ designs. Through his work in LID research and design over the past 20 years, Dylan has gained particular expertise in bioretention soil media and compost amendment optimization, soil media hydraulics, and performance characteristics of vegetated roofs and infiltration BMPs. Dylan has conducted research on biochar and microrhysal amendments to compost-based media to reduce excess nutrient export and has developed custom soil media blends designed to treat specific pollutants such as phosphorus. C R E D E N T I A L S PhD in Hydrology, University of California, 2004 BA in Geology, Guilford College, 1996 K E Y P R O J E C T E X P E R I E N C E CITY OF PARLIER STORMWATER POND RETROFIT AND BIORETENTION SOIL MEDIA GUIDANCE , PARLIER , CA As part of the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), local agencies are expected to coordinate on methods to sustainably manage groundwater at a local level. As a member of the local Groundwater Sustainability Agency, the City of Parlier (City) agreed to explore use of their existing stormwater basins for increased wet and dry weather runoff capture and infiltration. As part of this effort, the City was selected for Proposition 1 Stormwater Technical Assistance, which was provided by the Council for Watershed Health and Herrera. Herrera helped the City evaluate and plan for managing stormwater and irrigation flows draining from the 132-acre Richard Flores basin to a terminal retention basin. Because the existing and future use of the basin is also as a playfield, there was a strong desire to provide water quality treatment of stormwater and irrigation runoff prior to the flows entering the primary basin. As part of this effort, Dylan evaluated the use of Bioretention Soil Media (BSM) to treat pesticide and herbicides that may be present in flows routed to the Richard Flores retention basin. He provided the City with information concerning BSM including types of BSM (e.g., biochar, compost, GAC), their typical use (e.g., pollutant types treated), recommended BSM type(s) for the project, and regional cost and availability (suppliers). Herrera also prepared an example of a typical BSM soil specification that represents the type of information that could be included in a project bid package. CITY OF ANAHEIM POST DESIGN DETAILS, ANAHEIM, CA Dylan worked with the City of Bellingham to develop a new TAPE-approved non-proprietary high flow rate biofilter called POST. POST offers an affordable and flexible alternative to using proprietary high flow rate biofilters. The City of Anaheim is now adapting POST for use in their jurisdiction. Herrera is creating a suite of standard construction details for the POST System to be integrated into the City of Anaheim’s standard design details. The design details will result in constructible, DYLAN AHEARN, PhD functional, maintainable, and aesthetic facilities. Herrera is also producing supplemental written guidelines to incorporate the POST System into the existing City of Anaheim BMP Design Guidelines. Dylan is the project manager and stormwater treatment expert working with his team of engineers to deliver this new tool to the City. SAN FRANCISCO BIORETENTION ANALYSIS, SAN FRANCISCO, CA The City of San Francisco conducted a major initiative to implement Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) across the City in order to reduce hydraulic loading to their combined sewer system. Eight pilot projects were implemented as a demonstration to test how cost effective the GSI approach would be for the City. Dylan assisted the City with developing an approach for monitoring the demonstration projects. He provided experimental design support, developed standard operating procedures, and helped the City clarify the objectives of their monitoring efforts. Finally, Dylan helped develop standard details for monitoring bioretention systems which the City uses to this day. KITSAP BIORETENTION SOIL MEDIA STUDY, SEATTLE, WA The Washington State Department of Ecology awarded Kitsap County a $300,000 grant to conduct column experiments with the goal of developing an improved bioretention soil media (BSM) specification. Dylan aided in drafting the QAPP, including leading the experimental design and media selection. Dylan was a technical resource through the duration of the project and drafted a synthesis report which summarized the results of the study to move toward recommendations for a new specification. This cutting edge research is unique in the state and further defines Dylan and Herrera as bioretention experts both locally and nationally. WSDOT COMPOST AMENDED VEGETATED FILTER STRIPS STUDY , WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, WA Stormwater treatment in unimproved vegetated embankments is a largely unstudied topic. Dylan designed a unique monitoring approach using trench runoff collectors, cellular-linked monitoring equipment, and custom programmed automated samplers to implement the first study of this kind in Western Washington. Dylan was responsible for drafting a flow and water quality monitoring QAPP for Ecology approval before initiation of the project. As project manager he was responsible for directing the equipment deployment, remote monitoring, automated sampling, and data collection and analysis. The results will provide valuable information regarding the applicability of low-impact development techniques along highway corridors. ACADEMY ROAD STORMWATER FACILITY FLOW MONITORING , BELLINGHAM, WA Dylan evaluated a recently built and underperforming regional stormwater treatment facility in the Lake Whatcom watershed. The assessment included evaluation of existing characteristics such as the tributary basin boundary, basin categorization, hydraulic conductivity testing of medias at different depths, flow monitoring using an area velocity meter, and hydraulic grade line analysis through the facility. Flow monitoring was conducted under challenging hydraulic conditions using a Hach FL901 Flo-Tote 3 sensor and a modified Manning’s equation. Dylan wrote a technical memo to describe the findings of the assessment, as well as potential modifications to the facility medias, operations, or structural and conveyance elements to improve the ongoing performance and operation of the regional stormwater facility. US OIL AND REFINING CO, US OIL AND REFINING ISP SUPPORT, TACOMA, WA Dylan was the technical lead and Principal-in-Charge for Herrera’s effort to help US Oil and Refining come into compliance with their Individual Industrial Stormwater Permit. The effort resulted in an Engineering Design Report for a series of new non-proprietary stormwater treatment systems to address exceedances of copper and zinc above NPDES Waste Discharge Permit effluent limits at this 120-acre site. The design offered a robust and reliable site-wide strategy for stormwater treatment. Dylan worked with a team of scientists and engineers to prepare a cost estimate; complete hydrologic modeling; perform hydraulic design and sizing of treatment system components such as stormwater conveyance piping, pumps, storage tanks, and treatment media filter beds. Based on his two decades of stormwater treatment R&D experience, Dylan custom designed the media bed to specifically target copper and zinc. RAYNA GLEASON PROJECT ECOLOGIST/ ROLE: FIELD BIOLOGIST / ARBORIST Rayna Gleason is an ecologist and ISA certified arborist with 17 years of experience specializing in urban forestry and habitat restoration. She designs resilient plant palettes for tree medians, stormwater bioretention systems, and urban landscapes, advising municipalities on climate-adaptive plant palettes that integrate native and ornamental species. Rayna works primarily in urban areas, conducting tree inventories, tree risk assessments, designing city plantings and street tree lists, and working in larger urban parks to create both native habitats and ornamental gardens. Her expertise spans diverse plant communities, from the mesic Pacific Northwest to high desert, with a focus on sustainable, low-maintenance designs. She also oversees tree management during construction and installation to ensure project success. C R E D E N T I A L S BLA in Landscape Architecture (Horticulture emphasis), University of Rhode Island/2007 WPIT, Society of Wetland Science, 2023 ISA Certified Arborist/International Society of Arboriculture/NY-5710A/2011 ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ), 2019 24-hour OSHA Health and Safety Training (29 CFR 1910, 120) Master Gardener Certification/2014 K E Y P R O J E C T E X P E R I E N C E BIORETENTION SOIL MEDIA COMPONENTS ANALYSIS TO IMPROVE RUNOFF TREATMENT, KITSAP COUNTY, WA Rayna served as staff scientist for a bioretention soil media analysis project. The project supported the implementation of Municipal Nonpoint Pollution Discharge Elimination (NPDES) permits by developing and testing a high performance bioretention soil media (BSM) that protects beneficial uses of receiving waters. The overall goal of this project was to develop new recommendations for a high performance BSM that protects beneficial uses of receiving waters and achieves the following objectives: meets Ecology’s basic treatment, meets Ecology’s enhanced treatment, reduces phosphorus concentrations, meets plant growth objectives, and is affordable and available. Rayna assisted with plant recommendations for stormwater media experiments and performed all measuring and planting of plugs for the experiments. PLANYC’S MILLIONTREESNYC TREE PLANTING PROJECT , NEW YORK, NY As an urban forester and habitat restoration contract manager, Rayna designed and managed the implementation of reforestation and habitat restoration contracts as part of PlaNYC’s MillionTreesNYC tree planting project. Rayna designed and managed implementation of seven multi-year reforestation contracts with private contractor’s worth $7,300,000. She prepared and managed applications for NYC DEC and DEM permits and served as the liaison between government agencies for reforestation contracts, and work in / adjacent to wetlands. Rayna also prepared environmental impact statements for construction projects. In her role as urban forester she performed tree inventories in both urban and RAYNA GLEASON natural areas and created plans for tree protection and site erosion control. She also inventoried trees to be removed by other government agencies for tree valuation and restitution payments to the Parks Department. Rayna provided outreach for bi-annual tree planting events, trained volunteers on proper tree planting techniques, weed removal and getting involved in Parks’ stewardship programs. She oversaw herbicide application permit process and application for habitat restoration contracts. She used ArcPad & GPS (Trimble) to create detailed ArcGIS maps to monitor and record data and create design schematics for contract work. She also performed Level II tree risk assessment for NYC emergency storm response team for six storms, including Hurricane Sandy which resulted in 200+ storm hours. Her contract management responsibilities included managing procurement contracts with local growers to purchase 40,000 container trees annually and inspecting 140,000 container trees for MillionTreesNYC. She supervised work scope and timelines, managed contract budgets, oversaw all contract work and maintenance / warranty requirements and assisted in selecting contractors for each new contract. Throughout the duration of this effort Rayna created and maintained successful relationships with private contractors and other government agencies to efficiently get projects implemented. CITY OF REDMOND CLIMATE RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT, REDMOND, WA Rayna is the lead consulting arborist for this project, providing the City with recommendations for tree species best suited for street trees, trees in urban environments, and native trees in natural areas. Rayna is also part of a team providing recommendations for areas to increase ‘rewilding’ in open spaces to promote pollinators and habitat corridors for wildlife. This is part of an ongoing effort for the City of Redmond to increase tree canopy and prepare the city for climate resiliency. FIRCREST SCHOOL CAMPUS MASTER PLAN , SHORELINE, WA Herrera assisted the Washington Department of Social & Health Services (DSHS) with their advancement of the Fircrest School Campus Plan. To advance the plan, Herrera analyzed the 90-acre campus for the presence of critical areas and completed a tree survey of the forests on the site. In the critical areas analysis, no wetlands were identified, but two branches of Hamlin Creek were identified, remotely mapped and characterized. The tree survey found 177 tree groves on the 90-acre site. Rayna led field efforts to measure, catalog and assess all 250+ significant trees within these groves. Rayna authored a Critical Areas Report which summarized the results of the analysis. As project arborist, Rayna led field efforts to update the tree inventory from 2018 and mapped/reassessed existing tree conditions in 2023. MT HOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE STORMWATER RETROFIT PLAN AND DESIGN , GRESHAM, OR Rayna served as a project ecologist for this project to develop a stormwater retrofit master plan at the 168-acre campus of Mt Hood Community College. Rayna was part of the data collection, identification and conceptualization of projects, project prioritization, and concept design development. Forty retrofit projects, including permeable pavement, bioretention, green roofs, rainwater harvesting, regenerative outfall retrofits, and naturescaping were identified as campus retrofit opportunities. Of these projects, 23 were identified as near-term priorities to be completed over the next seven years and three were identified as early action projects to be completed within the next two years. Rayna assisted the interdisciplinary design team to complete concept plans for the three early action projects. PORT ANGELES MUNICIPAL CODE REVIEW , PORT ANGELES, WA Herrera worked with the City of Port Angeles to review the City’s municipal code, the Urban Services Standards and Guidelines, and the Citywide Comprehensive Plan. In addition to reviewing and updating codes and enforceable documents to meet the NPDES Phase II Permit requirements, Herrera will also be assisting with the Planning Commission, City Council, and Public Outreach support for the project. Rayna helped develop a set of implementation tools for the development community that will include factsheets on how to implement the new LID requirements for single-family residential and small commercial properties, an erosion and sediment control plan for small sites, a development review checklist, and a series of typical design scenarios.