2017 Campus RainWorks Challenge Results

On April 26, 2018, EPA announced the winners and honorable mentions for the sixth annual Campus RainWorks Challenge. 87 student teams from across 30 states submitted green infrastructure designs that address urban stormwater pollution and showcase the environmental, economic, and social benefits of green infrastructure. The breadth of multi-disciplinary expertise and innovation on display in these designs demonstrates that today's students are more than capable of solving the challenges of stormwater management and protecting public health and the environment in communities everywhere. Special thanks go to the Water Environment Federation, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Landscape Architects, all of the students, faculty, and judges that participated in this year's challenge.

Congratulations to the Winning Teams!

First Place

• University of California, Berkeley, Master Plan Category
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Demonstration Project Category

Second Place

• University of Maryland, College Park, Master Plan Category
• University of New Mexico, Demonstration Project Category

Honorable Mentions

• University of Arizona, Master Plan Category
• University of Arizona, Demonstration Project Category

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First Place, Master Plan Category: University of California, Berkeley

Titled (Re)Generations, this design exemplifies long-term commitment and vision in stormwater management. Strawberry Creek is a local water body and defining feature of the Berkeley campus. Using this water body as a connective thread, the team’s design strategically phases green infrastructure across the campus, capturing 100 percent of the university’s stormwater runoff by 2100, and restoring water quality to the Strawberry Creek watershed.

Project Narrative (pdf) | Design Board (pdf)

Student Team: Nate Kauffman, Yu Ling Chen, Celina Gu, Siyu Hou, Willis Logsdon, Cynthia Miao, Ellen Plane, Uzair Siddiqui, Anneliese Sytsma, Quing Tian, Erin Voss, Chenyue Wang, Zhiquan Yang, Benjamin Lamb (Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning); Abigail Jacob (Materials Science); Charlene Shong (Mechanical Engineering).

Advisors: Kristina Hill, PhD, Joe Burg, Ian McRae (College of Environmental Design).

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First Place, Demonstration Project Category: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The team’s design, Campus Hydro Redesigned, integrates a variety of green infrastructure practices into a campus parking lot, reducing impervious area, and completely mitigating the stormwater runoff from remaining impervious surfaces. Through the use of descriptive signage and native vegetation, the team’s design also seeks to add ecological, social, and aesthetic value to the site, converting parking space into a multi-functional campus amenity.

Project Narrative (pdf) | Design Board (pdf)

Student Team: Jessica Wiegand, Cindy Chen, Deisy Diaz Gonzalez, Jade Pereira, Meijun Liu (Civil and Environmental Engineering); Colleen Williams (Agricultural and Biological Engineering); Daisy Barrera (Economics); David Marcus (English); Jenny Liu (Photography); Jessann Gonzalez Cruz (Anthropology); Lok Tim Chan, Yu Nwe Saw, Zeying Li (Landscape Architecture).

Advisors: Arthur R. Schmidt, PhD, P.E. (College of Engineering)

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Second Place, Master Plan Category: University of Maryland, College Park

The Champion Gateway design integrated multiple green infrastructure practices into a campus entryway and pedestrian corridor adjacent to the proposed Purple Line, a light rail system that will connect Metro service lines and bring increased foot traffic to the University. The team’s design decreases impervious surface by over 70 percent and increases tree canopy by planting over 350 new trees. The redesigned site provides environmental and aesthetic value to College Park, and highlights the wisdom of aligning transportation and water infrastructure planning.

Project Narrative (pdf) | Design Board (pdf)

Student Team: Laura Robinson, Avantika Dalal, Joshua Franklin, Jason Poole, Jen Ren (Landscape Architecture); Tuana Philips, Joshua Nichols (Environmental Science and Technology), Gabriel Donnenberg (Environmental Science and Policy).

Advisors: Victoria Chanse, PhD (Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture); Peter May, PhD (Department of Environmental Science and Technology); Michael Carmichael, Stephen Reid (Facilities Management).

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Second Place, Demonstration Project Category: University of New Mexico

With their design, Johnson Field (Re)Creation, this team proposes to transform an athletic field to better manage stormwater runoff, reduce local flooding, and improve water efficiency on site. By recessing the playing field two inches and encircling the field with a network of rain gardens and new tree plantings, the design would result in the annual capture of over 1 million gallons of stormwater.

Project Narrative (pdf) | Design Board 1 (pdf)

Student Team: Tess Houle, Viviane Beluse, Travis Tabet (Landscape Architecture); Ricardo Carbajal (Community and Regional Planning); Hossein Goudarzi (Architecture); Kristal Metro, P.E., CFM (Civil Engineering).

Advisors: Kathleen Kambic (School of Architecture and Planning)

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Honorable Mention, Master Plan Category: University of Arizona

The West University Wash Revival design seeks to mitigate flooding through the restoration of a historic campus waterbody. A network of xeriscaped riparian basins planted with native vegetation would reduce turf area by 70 percent, increase stormwater infiltration capacity, and improve the aesthetic and ecological value of the site. Additional cisterns and basins would provide the ability to capture up to 2.4 acre feet of stormwater runoff.

Project Narrative (pdf) | Design Board 1 (pdf)

Student Team: Sam Hauserman (Biology and Society); Andre Rioux (Sustainable Built Environments); Brad Kindler (Anthropology); Brendan Ore (Fine Arts).

Advisors: Bo Yang, PhD (College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture); Grant McCormick (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences); Eric Scharf, RLA; Tanya Quist, PhD (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences).

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Honorable Mention, Demonstration Project Category: University of Arizona

Aptly titled A River Runs Through It, this team's design envisions a dry arroyo bio-swale cutting through the heart of the university's science campus. This network of bioretention, cisterns, and permeable pavement would be capable of capturing 5 acre feet of stormwater runoff during a 500 year, 24 hour storm event. The design also increases vegetative cover in the pedestrian corridor by over 30 percent, adding ecological and aesthetic value to the site.

Project Narrative (pdf) | Design Board (pdf)

Student Team: Dan Zedick, Nate Ritchie, Fei Yu, Yuheng Zheng (Landscape Architecture)

Advisors: Bo Yang, PhD (College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture); Grant McCormick (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences); Eric Scharf, RLA

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Judges

The Campus RainWorks Challenge encourages an interdisciplinary approach to stormwater management. Judges from EPA, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) generously volunteered their time to evaluate the design proposals submitted by student teams. EPA would like to thank the following individuals for serving as judges during the 2017 Campus RainWorks Challenge:

Final Judging Round

Initial Judging Round

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Cooperating Organizations

These cooperating organizations assisted EPA with judging and outreach:

To sign up for e-mail updates or ask a question about the Campus RainWorks Challenge, e-mail RainWorks@epa.gov.