Davey Resource Group Helps Gorman Heritage Farm In Cincinnati, OH Stay Sustainable Through Green Infrastructure

Gorman Heritage Farm

DRG collaborated with Gorman Heritage Farm to design and build a stormwater wetland system to manage runoff. The system, comprising three cells with seepage walls doubling as pedestrian walkways, improves water quality and habitat in the Mill Creek Watershed while preserving its historic character.

Sustainable Solutions For A Sustainable Farm

Gorman Heritage Farm hired Davey Resource Group, Inc. (DRG) to design and construct a stormwater wetland system to capture runoff from the adjacent hillsides, pasture, and barnyard complex.

Gorman Heritage Farm is a working farm and educational center that provides farm-based experiential learning opportunities about food, sustainable agriculture, and the natural world. In support of the farm’s overarching mission, DRG worked with farm staff to create a unique three-celled hillside wetland system to detain and infiltrate stormwater runoff, improving water quality through the settling of sediment, uptake of nutrients, and reduction of bacterial pollutant loads, before reaching a primary headwater habitat stream within the greater Mill Creek Watershed.

Design-Build Dream Team

The wetland design consisted of three distinct wetland cells, separated by seepage walls constructed of limestone blocks and gravel backfill. The seepage walls provided an extended drawdown of captured stormwater runoff while acting as elevated pedestrian walkways through the wetland system, matching the historic aesthetic and character of nearby limestone retaining walls and building foundations.

Extensive planting of native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants was included to establish functional plant communities throughout the project site. The wetland planting palette consisted of a diverse community of herbaceous plugs explicitly selected to attenuate non-point source pollutants and support microhabitats.

The stormwater wetland system captures runoff from the adjacent hillsides, pasture, and barnyard complex

The wetland design consisted of three distinct cells that include native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants.

Davey Resource Group worked with Gorman Heritage Farms to create a unique three-celled hillside wetland system to detain and infiltrate stormwater runoff.

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