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Abstract

The Wabash River Enhancement Corporation (WREC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving both the health of the Wabash River and the surrounding terrestrial areas. In an effort to improve water quality, their urban cost-share program focuses on supporting green projects within a critical region surrounding the Great Bend of the Wabash River. In this essay, a Purdue student describes his experience as leader of a six-member group who worked with WREC to locate a suitable site within this critical area and implement a green project. They selected the Lighthouse Baptist Church, located in Lafayette, Indiana, since it was experiencing high amounts of runoff on its property after storm events, which eventually carried pollutants into the Wabash River. To address this issue, the group collaborated with WREC to implement a design involving best management practices (BMPs), particularly three rain gardens and a bioswale. In addition to WREC, the project is part of Purdue’s Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW), an organization that works on various sustainability-related projects. The student discusses the experience’s impacts on him, WREC, and the community.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5703/1288284316534

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