The City of Charlottesville is undertaking an environmental restoration project in the section of McIntire Park that is home to the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont.
The project involves the restoration of a stream that runs through the park, Schenks Branch Tributary. The stream is experiencing active severe erosion of its banks and bed, sending excessive amounts of sediment downstream to waterways listed as impaired by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
As a result, the stream offers poor habitat for aquatic organisms and is largely inaccessible to the public. The city hired the environmental engineering firm Hazen and Sawyer to assess the current condition of the stream and design a restoration approach that will bring the stream back to a stable and healthy state.
This work is occurring in close coordination with the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont, whose Master Plan for the site includes the stream restoration.
There will be a virtual public meeting via Zoom Thursday, Feb. 24, at 5:30 p.m. to provide residents a chance to learn more about the project’s background and goals, the design process, next steps and the timeline moving forward, and how the project fits into the larger context of the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont. There will also be an opportunity to ask the project team questions.
Click here to join the meeting.
Contact the City’s Water Resources Specialist, Dan Frisbee, at [email protected] with questions.
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