Reframing the Ditch explores the application of native canopy using green street tools as a method to move beyond minimums and improve biological diversity of stormwater conveyances in a way that is consistent with visual landscape preference theory. Small stream water quality impairment is an issue found in 83% of stream headwaters in the Eastern United States. The Clean Water Act (1972), which regulates pollutant discharge into U.S. surface waters, mandates that municipalities create an implementation plan to improve water quality of their impaired streams. Water quality impairment is often exacerbated when headwater streams flow through urban areas. Urban areas are concentrations of human activity and as such bring concentrations of impermeable surfaces and stormwater runoff. As development increases, dedicated space for stormwater changes. Natural flow patterns that interacted with stratified layers of native vegetation often become constrained to ditches and pipes with little or no vegetation within the conveyance corridor. Reframing the Ditch creates an approach to help municipalities improve water quality of headwater streams by addressing water quality in ditches before water reaches the stream. The objective of urban conveyance systems is to move stormwater runoff into waterways as quickly as possible. When we design these conveyances to simply minimize stormwater interference, we ignore the potential contribution this land has for our public urban systems. This project looks for an intermediary between minimums and maximums. Maximums, also known as restoration, allows for messy, dynamic systems that are not hydrologically or visually appropriate in most urban environments. This thesis reveals ditches as complex landscapes that require high preforming vegetation, which ultimately limits the number of native species suitable for such harsh environments. Additionally, the more impermeable an environment is and the farther a ditch is from the top of the watershed, the more stormwater runoff there is, and the more space is required to process water and improve water quality. Cost, lack of available vegetation and lack of space may limit the application of this design in most circumstances. However, there are appropriate landscapes where this design methodology can provide valuable insight for landscape implementation plans aimed at improving water quality, while also providing public space, enriching neighborhood aesthetics and highlighting the function of our urban drainage systems. / Master of Landscape Architecture / The Environmental Protection Agency, through the Clean Water Act, dictates what is an appropriate level of contamination in streams and rivers within the United States. Waterway impairment is a widespread issue affecting 83% of headwater streams in the Eastern United States. Improving the quality of headwater streams, the smallest parts of stream and river networks, is generally thought of as the first opportunity to improve water quality downstream. Reframing the Ditch suggests an alternate first opportunity by looking at how we can improve water quality by addressing design of the urban ditch. Urban ditches, mostly in the form or open channels or curb-and-gutters, collect and move stormwater runoff. Ditches, typically have little vegetation and work to more water as quickly and efficiently as possible. When we eliminate vegetation from urban ditches, we also eliminate valuable function. In natural stream processes, vegetation slows, filters, and infiltrates water, improving water quality, while also improving biodiversity and providing habitat. However, theses natural stream processes are dynamic and messy systems that are often not appropriate for urban settings. In order to define a design method that is appropriate for urban settings, Reframing the Ditch utilizes a green street toolkit to create a strong sense of place, while processing stormwater, within our public rights-of way. By focusing on the application of native urban canopy within a drainage network, we can adhere to landscape preference and increase biodiversity. The design reveals that ditches are complex, context specific landscapes. While there is opportunity to increase utility of these spaces, there is complexity and cost to doing so. Layering utility into our stormwater conveyances is a valuable design strategy that serves individuals, neighborhoods, municipalities and watersheds. This project is an effort to help municipalities reframe their ditches, by providing ecological and social benefit, and ultimately improving water quality downstream.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The use and occupation of land have been occurred in an inadequated form many times in watersheds. Deforestations, farmings and fields planted in inadequate areas, in absence of Maintenancy treatments and urbanization without planning had been considered serious problems that generate ambient conflicts. These take to the environmental deterioration, soil erosion and natural landscapes depreciation. The Maintenancy Physical Diagnosis (MPD) is the most important ambient diagnostic since it has immediate and complete application in watersheds. It consists essentially in comparing the current use and the capacity of land use, having as a sample the watershed. The capacity of land use is determined through the ruggedness coefficient, which is obtained from the watershed relief and draining density. This type of environmental evaluation considers a better environmental life quality through a rational use of the physical, agricultural and urban space, with the pattern of available technician-scientific knowledge.The objective of this work had been to elaborate the MPD of Ibicuí-Mirim river watershed, to evaluate the use of the land in accordance with its natural vocation, aiming to identify the estimate of sedimentation and nevertheless analyze the landscape perceptions and preferences of the watershed in agreement with its use, thus to present adequate prognostics to the handling of the studied area. Through the MPD the potential use had been determined, conflicts of the land use, areas to plant trees, availability or excess of agriculture, areas that will be handled and found a deterioration of 33,31% in the watershed area. A susceptible sediment amount in order to be produced, of 38.866,74t/ano in the sediment had been evidenced, in the 1177,78 ha of total area. In relation to the landscape preference the methodology had been showed that the majority of people prefer the native forests landscapes, concluding thus, the importance of the MPD that in its essence indicates forestations to guarantee water infiltration, prevention of erosive episodes and in this way it guarantees natural landscapes that are most attractive for people. / O uso e ocupação da terra têm ocorrido de forma, muitas vezes, inadequada em Bacias Hidrográficas. Desmatamentos, lavouras e campos plantados em áreas inadequadas, ausência de tratos conservacionistas e urbanização sem planejamento são considerados problemas sérios que geram conflitos ambientais que levam à deterioração da ambiência, erosão do solo e depreciação das paisagens naturais. O Diagnóstico Físico Conservacionista (DFC) é o mais importante dos diagnósticos ambientais, uma vez que tem aplicação imediata e completa em sub-microbacias hidrográficas, e consiste, essencialmente, em comparar o uso atual com o uso potencial da terra (capacidade de uso), tendo como unidade de trabalho a sub-microbacia hidrográfica. O uso potencial terra é determinada através do coeficiente de rugosidade, o qual é obtido a partir da declividade e da densidade de drenagem das sub-microbacias. Este tipo de avaliação ambiental propõe uma melhor qualidade de vida ambiental através de uma utilização racional do espaço físico, rural e urbano, com os padrões do conhecimento técnico-científico disponíveis. O objetivo deste trabalho foi elaborar o DFC das sub-microbacias hidrográficas do Rio Ibicuí-Mirim/RS, para avaliar o uso da terra de acordo com sua vocação natural, a fim de identificar a estimativa de sedimentação em função do uso da terra e, ainda, analisar as percepções e preferências da paisagem conforme o uso da terra na sub-microbacia para, assim, apresentar prognósticos adequados ao manejo da área estudada. Por meio do DFC, determinou-se o uso potencial, conflitos de uso da terra, áreas a florestar, disponibilidade ou excesso em agricultura, áreas a serem trabalhadas. Encontrou-se uma deterioração de 33,31% da área da micro-bacia estudada. Foi constatada uma quantidade passível de ser produzida de 38.866,74ton/ano de sedimento, nos 1177,78 ha de área total. Com relação à preferência da paisagem a metodologia mostrou que a maioria das pessoas prefere paisagens com florestamento, concluindo-se, assim, a importância do DFC que, em sua essência, indica florestamentos para garantir infiltração de água, prevenção de episódios erosivos e, desta forma, garante paisagens naturais que são as mais atrativas para as pessoas.