First OMG! Project Completed 

 On December 15, 2023, four years after its launch,  ASLF’s One Million Gallons (OMG!) Community Partnership Program celebrated the completion of its first green infrastructure project.   

OMG! is a green infrastructure program developed in collaboration with the Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection (WEP). Its primary objective is to enhance water quality in the Syracuse area by capturing one million gallons of stormwater runoff annually from the combined sewer-serviced regions. These combined sewers handle both sanitary sewage and stormwater runoff. During periods of intense rainfall or snowmelt, the sewers may become overwhelmed by the increased volume, leading to the untreated discharge of sewage in the form of combined sewer overflows into Onondaga Creek and Harbor Brook. This, in turn, causes a degradation in water quality. OMG! addresses this issue by reducing runoff through the implementation of green infrastructure on private and/or public properties. Examples of such projects include rain gardens, bio-retention areas, permeable pavement, tree trenches, bioswales, green roofs, and rain barrels (http://aslf.org/omg/).   

The completed project is the result of a collaboration with Evergreen Manufacturing Co. located at 235 Cortland Avenue. The project site encompasses a 2-acre commercial property, nearly 100% covered with impervious surfaces. These impermeable surfaces prevent rainwater from infiltrating the ground, leading to a substantial volume of stormwater runoff during heavy storms.   

The OMG! project strategically installed a tree trench along the west and south property lines to capture runoff from a paved parking area spanning 25,800 square feet. A stormwater tree trench is a specific type of bioretention practice where a collection of trees and other plants are planted in a typically linear, shallow depression. This depression is filled with at least 3 feet of soil media on top of an underground drainage layer, consisting of stones with a diameter of 2-2.5 inches. This design provides void space to store and infiltrate stormwater runoff. The Evergreen tree trench, implemented by the OMG! project, is expected to intercept over 454,000 gallons of runoff annually. Planted with large, native trees and small shrubs, this tree trench serves multiple purposes, including providing shade, creating habitat, enhancing the street’s aesthetics, and contributing to the City of Syracuse’s efforts to augment its urban tree canopy in the area.  

In addition to the implementation of the tree trench, a concurrent project involving porous paving, funded by the Save The Rain Green Improvement Fund, was developed and executed alongside the OMG! initiative. This porous paving system effectively captures runoff originating from the eastern half of the parking lot and the roof of Evergreen’s office building. When combined, these two initiatives will successfully capture approximately 90% of the stormwater runoff from the entire property, equating to the removal of over 1,351,000 gallons of stormwater from the combined sewer system each year.   

Furthermore, OMG! is in the contracting stages of two additional projects in collaboration with Syracuse Cultural Workers on the Northside and Bellegrove Baptist Missionary Church on the Southside of the city. The design plans for both projects have been finalized, with construction scheduled for 2024. Upon completion, the cumulative impact of all three projects will result in a substantial annual runoff reduction of 1,233,400 gallons, contributing to water quality improvement in the foreseeable decades. For more information about OMG! and project updates, please visit http://aslf.org/omg/.