The Effectiveness of Soil Decompaction for Stormwater Management

Abstract

Compacted and highly disturbed urban soils are a pervasive feature of modern constructed landscapes. This research advances the integration of cost-effective practices that improve soil structure, restore infiltration, and reduce stormwater runoff to support soil decompaction and amendment as an approved stormwater BMP in the State of Maryland. To support the institutional acceptance of soil decompaction and amendment as an approved BMP, this project emphasized two primary complementary contributions: (1) a prototype BMP protocol for the practice, emulating the style of the State Stormwater Manual; and (2) supporting analysis for the consistent determination of a quantitative stormwater credit for decompaction and amendment. Observed soil moisture dynamics monitored in the field confirmed modeling predictions and represent a unique contribution of the research that enhances the credibility of our model-based approach for soil-specific sitespecific stormwater credits. Soil decompaction and amendment can reduce costs for green asset maintenance while significantly expanding the opportunities for cost-effective stormwater management services from the pervious land uses in Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration’s (MDOT SHA) managed landholdings