October 15, 2013
REVISED: 12/6/2013
Jessica Canfield
Assistant Professor
Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning jesscan@k-state.edu
| 532.7083
Tim Keane, Ph.D.
Professor
Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning whisker@k-state.edu
| 532.2439
Campus Creek Existing Conditions (Canfield 2013)

In the fall of 2014, the Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning
(LA/RCP) will undertake a series of coordinated projects which aim to reveal, highlight, and demonstrate how Campus Creek should be transformed into a sustainable, environmentally and socially beneficial campus amenity. Due to the distinct abilities of our faculty and students, Central
Administration has specifically asked our department to critically examine the creek’s existing conditions and future potential as a means of advancing the 2012 Campus Master Plan. We will conduct a watershed assessment, develop a detailed set of restoration plans, and generate conceptual imagery to illustrate a fully restored, re-envisioned Campus Creek. This work will be conducted in phases, and final outcomes will be compiled into a comprehensive report for the University.
Additionally, we will seek funding (through an Academic Excellence Award) to curate an on campus exhibition of our work. This exhibition could possibly be displayed at K-State’s Urban Water Institute in Olathe and/or at the Discovery Center in Manhattan as well (see Figure 1).
The Re-Envisioning Campus Creek Project will: elevate awareness and understanding about Campus
Creek across the University community; deepen and enrich initial recommendations from the 2012
Camus Master Plan; and utilize evidence based design to illustrate a new and improved future for a fully restored Campus Creek.
In addition to providing the University with creative and pragmatic stream restoration and site design solutions, the Re-Envisioning Campus Creek project is intended to inspire a campus wide dialogue about sustainable urban waterways, green infrastructure, and the value of ecosystem services. We seek to show how a re-envisioned Campus Creek can foster numerous environmental benefits, including improved water quality, reduced flooding and bank erosion, increased groundwater recharge, greater carbon sequestration, and the provision of habitat for aquatic, avian, and terrestrial species. We will also illustrate how Campus Creek has potential for fostering numerous social benefits through the addition of gathering spaces, a safe trail system, seating alcoves, and interpretive signage. A restored Campus
Creek will create a living laboratory, helping the University fulfill its goal to “Cultivate spaces for intellectual and social collaboration.” 1
Green Action Funds are requested to support the first step (data collection and assembly) in the Re-
Envisioning Campus Creek Project. Monies will enable the procurement of four essential baseline data sets : a site survey, vegetation inventory, water quality assessment, and site photography. This work will be conducted by an interdisciplinary team of students, under supervision and guidance by
LA/RCP faculty Professor Jessica Canfield and Dr. Tim Keane. These data sets will serve as critical foundation for the subsequent development of detailed base maps and digital and physical models of the creek corridor. Together, this robust collection of information will then provide students of LAR-
648 (an upper level design studio of landscape architecture, and possibly biology, and engineering students) the necessary foundation to develop evidence based design solutions for a re-envisioned
Campus Creek in fall of 2014 (see Figure 1).
1
Kansas State University Executive Summary, Campus Mater Plan Update 2012, p.12
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Green Action Funds will directly support the hire of eight students to conduct field data collection and analysis during Spring 2014, with project oversight provided by Assistant Professor Jessica Canfield and Professor Dr. Tim Keane. Students will learn how to use site survey equipment and create a Digital
Elevation Model, how to conduct a vegetation inventory, and how to generate time-lapse photography.
Our department’s in-kind contributions will include faculty time and the utilization of department equipment, including: Total Station survey equipment (to generate a digital terrain model); Archer
GPS (to geo-locate trees and shrubs in the vegetation inventory); and Nikon D90 GPS camera (for time lapse photography). LA/RCP faculty, with support from Philip Barnes in Biological & Agricultural
Engineering and Ryan McGrath in Civil Engineering, will provide students with training on the equipment, and guide them through step-by-step data collection protocols.
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The Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning (specifically Canfield
& Keane) will administer project funds and oversee management of field data collection and analysis. A total of eight students will be hired to collect and analyze field data during the spring 2014 semester.
Hired students will be from the disciplines of: Landscape Architecture (LA); Civil Engineering (CE);
Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE); and Regional and Community Planning (RCP).
Funding will also support the acquisition of professional aerial photography, likely to be flown by local photographer Edward McNamara.
Field Data Collection Tasks

Site Survey: $3,600 o
(3) - $1,200 stipends (for CE and/or LA students) o
To precisely map the stream channel corridor and merge data points with LiDar data to assemble an accurate and comprehensive Digital Elevation Model (DEM).

Vegetation Inventory : $1,400 o
(2) - $700 stipends (for LA students) o
To geo-locate and document all trees and large shrub species (including notes on species, size, maturity, and health). Data points will be assembled into a GIS map.

Water Quality Assessment : $1,000 o
(2) - $500 stipends (for BAE and/or LA students) o
To understand the water’s nutrient and suspended sediments levels, and how these levels fluctuate over time, we will establish a regulated grab sample protocol. Grab samples will be captured, at key points along the creek, multiple times during the course of the semester and following large storm events. Monies will also provide laboratory analysis of collected samples.

Site Photography : $4,000 o
(1) - $1,000 stipend (for RCP or LA student) o
To develop a series of time-lapse videos which illustrate detailed change along the o watercourse. Key locations along Campus Creek will be identified and systematically photographed at least twice-weekly, and after large storm events.
Aerial Photography & Processing ($3,000). The entire length of the creek channel will be flown (with an aerial drone camera), at least three times, in order to capture film imagery of the channel during both leaf-off and leaf-on conditions.
TOTAL: $10,000
Notes:
1.
Students will receive half of stipend funds at project initiation in January. Upon satisfactory completion of their work in May, students will receive the remaining portion of their stipend.
2.
Should there be any remaining funds in our account on May 30, 2014, we pledge to return all unspent monies to the Green Action Fund account.
3.
All collected data and imagery will be made available for use by all units on campus.
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December 2013
Project Initiation — Eight students will be identified and invited to participate in field data collection.
January 2014
Field Data Collection Kick-off — Professor Canfield and Dr. Keane will explain the overall project intent and describe the students’ individual scope of services. Professor Canfield and Keane, with additional support from Philip Barnes in Biological & Agricultural Engineering, and Ryan McGrath in
Civil Engineering, will meet with students to establish data collection protocols and to provide training on equipment. Students will receive half of stipend funds at project initiation in January.
February – May 2014
Collection and Analysis —Students will collect and analyze field data, as outlined above in Field Data
Collection Tasks. Aerial photography will also be captured during this time.
Professors Canfield and Keane will be responsible for ensuring students are making sufficient and satisfactory progress in their data collection tasks at several points during the semester. Upon satisfactory completion of work in May, students will receive the remaining portion of their stipend.
All field data collection and analysis will be completed by June 1, 2014.
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Figure 1: Outline of overall project and how Green Action Funds will play a critical role.
Note: The Re-Envisioning Campus Creek Project reflects ideas supported by conversations between
LA/RCP Department Head, Stephanie Rolley; APDesign Dean, Tim DeNoble; and Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Ruth Dyer.
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