The City of Lenexa contracted Bucher Willis and Ratliff, Corp. to complete a Stormwater Master Plan. Bucher Willis and Ratliff then appointed Adaptive Ecosystems, Inc. to consult and oversee the development of a plan for the selection of stormwater management project locations.

Stormwater Master Plan

The City of Lenexa contracted Bucher Willis and Ratliff, Corp. to complete a Stormwater Master Plan. Bucher Willis and Ratliff then appointed Adaptive Ecosystems, Inc. to consult and oversee the development of a plan for the selection of stormwater management project locations.

A significant part of Adaptive Ecosystems' services included the completion of a series of habitat evaluations and assessments for 26 watershed project locations. This involved assigning a subjective evaluation score to each habitat type and converting it to impacted habitat units for the 26 project locations. The habitat units were used as a planning tool for the selection of preferred stormwater management project locations to minimize impacts on existing natural resources.

In addition to these services, Adaptive Ecosystems, Inc. provided cultural resource assessment reviews and threatened and endangered species reviews. Assessment parameters included plant species composition, structural diversity, interspersion of adjacent habitats for wetlands surface water presence, water quality, wetland vegetation composition, wetland size, surrounding land use, degree of isolation, percent vegetation cover for concealment, and stream system interaction.

The City of Lenexa contracted Adaptive Ecosystems to obtain a programmatic Corps of Engineers permit for the Stormwater Master Plan. Adaptive Ecosystems, Inc. negotiated with the Corps of Engineers to design a flexible permit mechanism. The Stormwater Master Plan Individual Permit (SMP-IP) will allow the City to implement the project over the next 10 years. The SMP-IP allows for revision of the size and location of facilities based on environmental changes in sub-watersheds, flexible mitigation for each project, and a streamlined review for each construction project.

Adaptive Ecosystems, Inc. wrote the SMP-IP Guidelines which include a brief history of the SMP-IP timelines and schedules for facility sitings, a summary of environmental studies, and agency coordination and permitting for SMP-IP projects.