# Defense Supply Center Columbus eyes big win in natural resources restoration

/ Published March 12, 2024
COLUMBUS, Ohio, 
Defense Supply Center Columbus has been designated as the only Defense Logistics Agency site to receive funds for nature-based solution projects under the Department of Defense Legacy Program for fiscal 2023.

DLA Installation Management – Columbus Physical Scientist Nicole Goicochea said the $200,000 award is being used in the design phase for converting dry detention basins into constructed wetlands and added that 2024 funds are being requested to assist with implementation.

“The project is expected to improve stormwater management on the installation,” Goicochea said. “It will also alleviate flooding and stream bank erosion problems along Mason Run, a tributary of nearby Big Walnut Creek.”

Both waterways are part of the greater Scioto River watershed which empties into the Ohio River at Portsmouth, Ohio, she added. 

The basins, located to the north and south of DSCC’s Mission Park, were designed in the early 1990s to capture stormwater and direct it to Mason Run from surrounding parking lots and roads which serve Buildings 20 and 21, Goicochea said.

Goicochea said the project will reduce rising costs to maintain and repair damaged infrastructure from more frequent and extreme flooding caused by climate change and will help boost water quality and biodiversity on site.

According to a recent study by the Ecological Society of America, constructed wetlands are known to have the potential to function as multifunctional tools to mitigate both excessive amounts of nutrients or heavy sediment loading of aquatic systems.

The presence of these nutrients, known as eutrophication, causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen. This phenomenon, known as a harmful algal bloom, occurs due to increased nutrient and chemical inputs, threatening water quality, biodiversity and ecosystem services, the study said.

Constructed wetlands are a natural solution that will not only ward against eutrophication, but will also alleviate flooding on site and downstream, Goicochea said.

“They can also filter out any oils or contaminants running off from the parking lots before they can reach Mason Run,” she said.

The new wetlands, and the native plants and trees incorporated into the design, will provide habitat for pollinators and migratory birds, said Donald Knight, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist and technical advisor for the project.  

“Some of these species, like the Indiana Bat, are identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as species of concern, threatened, or endangered and may benefit from an increase in quality habitat on the installation,” he said.

                A preliminary sketch of what the constructed wetlands may look like once adapted on Defense Supply Center Columbus. Dry detention basins built in the early 1990s will be adapted into constructed wetlands over the next several years.                            DOD Legacy Program                            A preliminary sketch of what the constructed wetlands may look like once adapted on Defense Supply Center Columbus. Dry detention basins built in the early 1990s will be adapted into constructed wetlands over the next several years.            SHARE IMAGE:Download ImageImage DetailsPhoto By: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville DistrictVIRIN: 240311-D-D0441-363

The preliminary design created by an Army Corps of Engineers design team from the Louisville District was unveiled in late January and a more solid design is now in the works.

The team consists of Engineer Cliff Carter, Hydrologist Isaiah Weilbaker and Lillie Harwood, an engineering intern with the district.

Matt Foreman, deputy facility engineer with DLA Installation Management – Columbus is working closely with the team to design a solution which will meet the needs of the DSCC community now and into the future.

The square basins will be converted into a more curved shape with multiple levels and will be planted with a variety of water loving native plants like broad-leafed cat-tail, white water lilly, marsh marigold, swamp milkweed, common boneset, elderberry, buttonbush and silky dogwood, Goicochea said.

Pear trees planted around the current basins will be removed in favor of native trees like river birch, pin oak and sycamore, she added.

Goicochea explained that the multi-level basin is designed to hold more water initially, then will encourage slow infiltration to the carbonate aquifer that lies underneath the installation and the surrounding cities of Whitehall and Bexley. The water not soaked up by the wetlands will flow into Mason Run, but it will be much less than what flows there now, effectively reducing flooding downstream.

Examples of constructed wetlands can be found in the Columbus area within Scioto Audubon, Battelle Darby and Prairie Oaks metro parks.

The project addresses the 2021 DOD Climate Action Plan’s third Line of Effort, Resilient Built and Natural Infrastructure, which encourages “enhancing natural and man-made systems essential for success.”

“It will be completed in two phases – depending on funding – over several years with a goal of increasing climate resiliency on the installation,” Goicochea said.