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38 SEPTEMBER 2000
SITE SUITABILITY ANALYSIS
In addition to the slope analysis, a reserve suitability analysis was completed.
This analysis (see site analysis map, page 40) identified site opportunities and
constraints including surrounding land-use, possible access points, rights-of-way,
setback limitations, existing water sources, and general site drainage. Coupled with
the slope analysis, the suitability analysis helped guide the design and placement of
reserve facilities, and development of the management recommendations.

Land Use
Part of what makes the Hyatt site so intriguing is that it is almost entirely
surrounded by fully developed land with both residential and industrial uses. Two
adjacent parcels owned by ACHD and the Meridian School District remain
undeveloped. These would be valuable additions to the reserve and could increase
its size by as much as 15 acres. At the time of this writing, negotiations are underway
to integrate those properties into the reserve.

Site Access/Easements/ ROW’s

Access to the site at the north end of the property is limited to a specific area
where the proposed Maple Grove extension will meet grade, allowing for a road into
the site. A corner of ACHD property lies between the reserve property and the new
Maple Grove road at this point. BP&R will seek an easement or other agreement
with ACHD in order to use this parcel for reserve access and parking.

Based on ACHD requirements, access at the south end of the site off of McMillan
Road is limited to two curb cuts, situated directly opposite existing roads that inter-
sect McMillan from the south. There are plans to widen McMillan Road concurrent
with construction of the Maple Grove extension. The 98-foot right-of-way required
to accommodate the proposed widening has been considered in this master plan.

Settler’s Irrigation District requires a 50-foot canal easement (25 feet from
centerline, each side) for maintenance access from its banks. Some uses are allowed
within that easement, but no trees are to be planted or obstructions built within the
easement. A crossing agreement will be required with the Irrigation District for the
proposed reserve access bridge.

The proposed Maple Grove extension requires a 20-foot construction easement

into the reserve area. Per ACHD, construction of the retaining wall and road is
currently planned to occur from the reserve property to the east, in order to reduce
impacts to the wetland. The 20-foot easement will be required for exterior
treatments and maintenance of the retaining wall.

The Hyatt Wetland has been designated a jurisdictional wetland and has been
delineated several times over the last 15 years. The most recent delineation,
provided by ACHD in 1999, encompasses only the eastern edge of the site where the
Maple Grove extension is proposed. Some changes in the wetland level and area
have occurred since the initial delineation in the late 1980’s.

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 HYATT HIDDEN LAKES RESERVE MASTER PLAN
40 SEPTEMBER 2000
Water Sources / Outlet
Various sources, including the results of a Level I Environmental Assessment of
the site (1997), identify the main water source for the wetland to be seeps in the
south cut bank of the wetland and a shallow groundwater table that feeds the
wetland from underneath. One spring is visible in the southeastern-most corner of
the wetland while two additional seeps are thought to exist along the southern edge.
The flow of water in Settler’s Canal also has a significant effect on the wetland’s
water flow, according to a study done over the last year by ACHD. A storm water
inlet drains into the site at its eastern edge. This influx of untreated storm water has
caused significant erosion to the steep eastern bank and should be addressed, to
prevent future disturbance.

Channels, originally constructed to drain the site during the gravel mining
operation, are still somewhat visible in the wetland. These lead into the main outlet
channel where one, possibly two, beaver dams exist that have backed up the water
in the wetland to its current level.

The single outlet for the wetland is at the northern edge. Outflow enters an 18”
pipe that drains under Mt. View Road and the adjacent industrial property to Warm
Springs Creek. ACHD has indicated that they will not modify this outlet, or resize
this pipe, with the construction of the Maple Grove extension.

SUMMARY
The site analysis process determined that the Hyatt property, though enjoyed
as a natural environment today by adjacent neighbors and others, has been subjected
to invasive gravel mining, resulting in a compromised natural ecosystem. The site is
currently healing itself through natural processes, but because it is surrounded by
developed residential and industrial uses, its ability to become a healthy natural
ecosystem without human intervention is limited. Therefore, some enhancement
and management is necessary to produce a sustainable wildlife habitat reserve.

Certain features within the site require augmentation in order to provide safe
use of the property. Routinely breached by site visitors, the beaver dam has caused
flooding of downstream businesses. Replacing it with a permanent water control
structure will allow for safe and consistent management of the water level in the
wetland. Other aspects of the site that require enhancement include the
weed-infested upland grass areas, steep, eroding slopes, the sparse riparian edge of
the wetland, and the cattail monoculture within the wetland.

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SEPTEMBER 2000 41
STORM WATER ANALYSIS
 STORM WATER ANALYSIS

Ada County Highway District (ACHD) brought a proposal before the Boise
Parks & Recreation Department to discharge storm water into the Hyatt Wetland. The
district was looking to provide a location for detention and treatment of storm water
run-off that currently drains into the Settler’s Canal from neighborhoods south of the
site. The Hyatt Wetland offers a unique opportunity to accomplish these objectives.

The ACHD proposal had merit in that it provided a storm water discharge
alternative to the Settler’s Canal, which is nearing capacity. Additionally, the imple-
mentation of Best Management Practices would benefit ACHD and the downstream
community by improving the quality of the storm water before it reaches the Boise
River. The Boise Parks & Recreation Department has determined that this opportu-
nity to partner with ACHD could be mutually beneficial for the following reasons:

• Additional off-site storm water introduced into the wetland would help
increase flow and reduce stagnation, which could improve water quality
and the overall health of the wetland. This may also help discourage
further outbreaks of Avian Botulism.

• ACHD will compensate Boise Parks & Recreation for the quantity of storm
water discharged into the wetland, which will help to offset the costs of
reserve development, management and maintenance.

• Treating storm water through the Hyatt Wetland offers public educational
opportunities that could benefit both agencies and the community at large.

WETLAND FILTRATION
Despite the potential benefits of ACHD’s proposal, Boise Parks & Recreation
was concerned about the potential for disruption and contamination of the wetland
habitat through the introduction of off-site storm water. Wetlands, both natural and
constructed, are known and proven to function as water filtration and pollution
treatment mechanisms. According to an EPA bulletin on Constructed Wetlands Treat-
ment, “constructed wetlands have been demonstrated to be effective at removing
organic, metal and nutrient elements including nitrogen and phosphorous from
municipal waste waters, mine drainage, industrial effluents and agricultural runoff.”

The Hyatt Wetland is not classified as a constructed wetland because it was not
built for the primary purpose of filtering water. However, it is not entirely accurate to
classify it as a naturally occurring wetland since it resulted from an invasive gravel
extraction process. Regardless of classifaction, the Hyatt Wetland has the necessary
characteristics to filter pollutants from storm water. Long-term effects of storm water
discharge into natural wetlands are hard to predict and can vary greatly, depending
upon the quality and quantity of storm water introduced. Currently, the Army Corps
of Engineers policy does not allow discharge of storm water directly into a naturally
occurring wetland without some method of pre-filtration. In early discussions with
the planning team, the Corps indicated they will allow discharge of storm water into
the Hyatt Wetland, as long as some type of pre-treatment is provided.

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 HYATT HIDDEN LAKES RESERVE MASTER PLAN
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PRE-TREATMENT
The planning team explored various methods of storm water pre-treatment
including both biological and mechanical pre-treatment options. To preserve the
health of the wetland, it is critical that sediment, oils, and nutrients be removed from
the storm water. It is anticipated that additional pollutants such as heavy metals and
other chemicals would either settle out in the pre-treatment process or be
transformed into inert substances through the biological processes within
the wetland.

Three of the four preliminary planing concepts included pre-treatment systems

ranging from the use of mechanical filtration devices to the incorporation of a
constructed wetland. Creating a wetland to filter storm water was an attractive
option, largely because it offered a number environmental education opportunities.
Further exploration determined that building a constructed wetland with enough
capacity to handle the quantities that ACHD needed to discharge would reduce the
already limited upland areas too greatly to be compatible with other desired uses,
such as passive recreation. As a result, installation of a more compact, mechanical
pre-treatment device combined with compost filtration emerged as the
preferred alternative.

WATER LEVEL IMPACTS

Because the quantity of storm water identified for possible discharge into the
wetland was significant (approximately 137 acre feet), it was necessary to assess
what impact a raise in water level would have upon the wetland, specifically with
regards to waterfowl nesting and roosting sites, and wetland edge vegetation. To
this end, the team civil engineer performed calculations to estimate the detention
and drawdown time for various water level increases ranging from one to seven feet,
based on the size of the existing outflow pipe at the north end of the property.
(Please refer to the appendix for storm water calculations).

Additionally, a hydrologic model was produced to demonstrate how an

increase in water level would impact the site. It was determined that if a berm were
constructed at the north end of the site, the wetland could feasibly detain up to seven
feet of additional water without significantly impacting the useable upland areas. It
was also determined that the wetland edge vegetation could tolerate, and even
benefit from, a temporary inundation as long as water levels returned to normal
levels within four weeks. The nesting and roosting habitat would potentially be
inundated as well, depending on the season, but the infrequency of the 100-year
design storm lessens the severity of that impact.

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DESIGN STORM CAPACITY
After a thorough investigation of pre-treatment options, it was determined
that filtering a 100-year storm event with a mechanical or constructed wetland
pre-treatment system was not a feasible alternative. Storm water volumes are so
large for a 100-year storm that pre-treatment facilities sized to handle these volumes
would have a potentially negative impact on the site’s upland area. However, it is
feasible to pre-treat a two-year storm event, which equates to approximately 80
percent of the storms experienced in the Boise area. The remaining 20 percent of
storms would be pre-treated to the maximum capacity of the system, understanding
that any additional storm water would then flush directly into the wetland.

The risk of pollutants entering the wetland during peak flows is typically
reduced since the accumulated pollutants have already been removed by the initial
flush of run-off. In other words, storm water run-off in the early part of a storm event
picks up the majority of sediments and pollutants that have accumulated on the
roadways, and therefore tends to be ‘dirtier’ than run-off that occurs later in a storm
event, after most of the ‘dirt’ has already been washed away. Though the higher
flows from the extreme storm events would have minimal pollution impact on the
wetland, they would require detention storage for the large volume of water flowing
into the site for the duration of the storm. While the ultimate risk of pollution to the
wetland is reduced by pre-treating two-year storms, the feasibility of installing
a pre-treatment facility to treat larger design year storm events should still
be considered.

STORM WATER SUMMARY

Results of the storm water analysis indicate that it would be feasible to allow
ACHD to discharge up to a 100-year storm event volume into the wetland, raising the
water level by approximately six feet. Provided that the water recedes back to its
original level within four weeks, as estimated, the wetland and its habitat will not
sustain any permanent damage.

In order to gain acceptance by the Army Corps of Engineers, a mechanical

pre-treatment device would need to be installed to filter water from up to a minimum
two-year storm event, effectively removing the highest concentration of pollutants
for the more frequent storm events.

At the time of this writing, Boise Parks & Recreation and ACHD are negotiating
to determine if it is economically viable to pre-treat and discharge the off-site storm
water into the Hyatt Wetland. If a decision is made to accept the storm water, the
next step will be to design the necessary water control structures and file for a dam
permit with the Idaho Department of Water Resources.

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46 SEPTEMBER 2000
DESIGN EVOLUTION /
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT