The University of Vermont, together with the Cities of Burlington and South Burlington, are jointly planning improvements to the UVM-owned Main Street stormwater facility, located near the Doubletree Hotel.  

The project involves improvements to the existing UVM Main Street Wet Pond for the treatment of stormwater runoff from the existing 25.7 (+/-) acre watershed plus an additional re-routed and captured 30.8 (+/-) acre watershed. 

The design will retrofit and expand the existing wet pond (an older, less effective Tier III practice) to a Tier II gravel wetland. This will be a significant improvement of storm runoff treatment. 

The project will include diverting and capturing the runoff from a stormwater pipe that currently flows under the pond and discharges untreated to Centennial Brook. The expanded watershed includes drainage from the southern half of Williston Road, adjacent commercial and residential properties in South Burlington, and additional portions of the UVM campus. 

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Vermont State Recovery Fund has provided Community Stormwater Grant funding to assist the University and both cities to reduce the adverse impacts to water quality from stormwater runoff.

These three entities are all Municipal Stormwater Systems (MS4) communities and thus required to treat stormwater runoff within their jurisdictions. The University and the cities will provide at least 20% matching funds for this work. 

This collaboration across the watershed will benefit the University, both cities and the citizens and residents of the area, as well as contribute to water quality improvement in both Centennial Brook and Lake Champlain. 

For more information, contact:

Lisa Kingsbury
Associate Director of Planning
Lisa.Kingsbury@uvm.edu

Learn more about UVM Watersheds and Stormwater Treatment