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PGCPS: stormwater work at Colin Powell Academy reduced flooding zones by ~35%
Summary
PGCPS staff reported that recent stormwater-bioretention projects at Colin Powell Academy and Suitland High School reduced flood-prone areas by over 35% at Colin Powell and captured roughly 1.1 million gallons of runoff; Colin Powell is slated to become a resilience hub.
Christina Garcia Strelin, program manager for sustainability and resilience at PGCPS, provided a focused update on stormwater management projects tied to Priority 7 during the Feb. 18 committee meeting.
Garcia said bioretention and other stormwater controls installed at Colin Powell Academy reduced the mapped flooding zone on campus by over 35 percent and diverted approximately 1.1 million gallons of surface runoff. "It was about 1.1 gallon million gallons of water, that was able to be drained," she said, providing a lay comparison that equated the volume to roughly two Olympic-size pools to convey scale.
The projects were designed both to reduce flooding on school grounds and to improve water quality by filtering runoff before it reaches municipal conveyances. Garcia also noted that the district will add a resilience hub to the Colin Powell site to support community needs during extreme weather events.
Why it matters: The committee framed stormwater projects as delivering both operational benefits for school facilities (reduced flooding, lower maintenance) and community benefits by protecting adjacent neighborhoods. Members asked for additional technical materials and Garcia offered to present more detailed engineering information at a future meeting.
Next steps: Staff will provide expanded technical documentation and a future presentation on stormwater engineering and resilience-hub planning; no budget or contract awards were decided at this session.
