La Bonte Wetland Restoration

This proposal focuses on a local olfactory offensive site, affectionately called “stink lake”: it was once a dump, now a shallow runoff pond that supports summer algae blooms. The project was to turn the site into a productive wetland habitat replete with a duck blind and low lying docks from which to wildlife watch. Students researched the biological and cultural history of the site, and proposed a series of steps that would improve upon some of the functions of the site. For example, as a wetland, storm water drainage from the local community would be cleaned; the biodiversity would increase, creating a more aesthetic locale for humans and a healthier ecosystem for non-humans. This is a vast project, involving water and soil monitoring, engineering of “cleaning steps” for street runoff, and building of structures that would support human activities.

The proposal meant to involve the local community via brochures, newsletters, town meetings and when the water was ‘chemically & biologically’ ready for wetland plants, the community would participate in the planting (of seeds and seedlings of switchgrass, wild rye, duckweed, cattail, soft rush) on a ‘wetland celebration weekend’. Re-colonizing a small portion of an urban site with a natural ecosystem integrates two commonly disassociated worlds: culture and nature.

The project is described on a series of posters consisting of drawings, photos and text: the site in its current condition (photo far left); pond cleaning, soil conditions and the evolution of the site into a healthy wetland (2nd photo from left); walkway systems, plants and duckblind (3rd photo). The last 2 images are of the model: aerial perspective and a detail.