CONNECTING ACADEMY EXPERTISE TO COMMUNITY NEED TO MAXIMIZE THE USE OF A FORMER COMMUNITY GOLF COURSE WITH A FOCUS ON FLOOD STORAGE POTENTIAL

Golf course closures have exceeded openings since 2006, creating an opportunity to reevaluate future sustainable use of available land as well as the potential ecosystem services it might provide. Decision-making can be enhanced by working relationships between local academic institutions, conservation groups, and park districts. A recently-closed municipal course in Springfield, OH, at the confluence of Mad River and its tributary Buck Creek, provides a case in point. University students and faculty partnered with personnel from the local park, soil and water conservation, and flood conservancy districts to assess ecohydrological services the former course could provide. The original course design utilized extant floodplain and channel features preserved following channelization and levee construction on the two streams in response to the 1913 flood. Two 30-in culverts historically provided an outlet for a tile, pond, and channel system designed to drain standing water from the course to Mad River. Following closure, removal of flapper gates on Mad River effectively reversed flow, hydrologically reconnecting the river to its floodplain under flood conditions. Installation of shallow monitoring wells, surface water and groundwater level monitoring, mapping of flood events, soil sampling, and vegetation surveys provided the data necessary to assess wetland viability and habitat and flood storage potential.

Flood storage potential was approximated using a culvert flow model and high watermarks for a series of floods. Culvert flow was modeled as full barrel flow under submerged conditions based on field observations and water level data at both the inlet and outlet logged at 15-min intervals. Volume was also approximated using the difference in elevation between high watermarks and the ground surface assuming a flat surface between watermarks and no infiltration. Based on modeled flow, between 1.3-3.3 ft³ of stormflow was stored on course. For comparison, for the five flood events evaluated, 0.4-2.1 percent of the Mad River flood hydrographs or 5-15 min of their peak flood flows were stored on the former golf course. Flood storage will be optimized by minor excavation of the former golf course in combination with efforts to re-establish wetlands at this former stream confluence.