Imitating Nature by Heather Duval Lebus Residents of Greenwood Village, CO will soon enjoy a restored and expanded wetlands area and an improved bike and horse trail along the stream within the city's Greenwood Gulch. Design Concepts, a Landscape Architecture and planning firm based in Lafayette, CO, recently helped complete an innovative design for Greenwood Gulch that imitates nature to control flooding and erosion that had damaged the wetlands and path. "Nature, recreation and flood control will co-exist in this project, to the benefit of both residents and wildlife," explains Rob Layton, ASLA, a Principal in Design Concepts. The restoration "will make the experience of trail users more enjoyable by bringing them close to water and wetlands and the sound of water," adds Chuck McKnight, PE, of Sellards & Grigg, Inc., the Lakewood engineering firm that is managing the project. In recent years, urban development in Greenwood Village has caused increased runoff and more sediments, which raised the level of the stream. Subsequent heavy runoff created channels in the stream and left the two acres of adjacent wetlands dry. The stream bed is now being excavated and widened to its original level so the flow of water will spread out and support the wetlands. The $1.4 million project, jointly sponsored by the City of Greenwood Village and the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District, is among the first in the region to combine a flood and erosion control project with a wetlands and park restoration project. Greenwood Gulch represents the city's commitment to a policy of preserving floodplains and using them to benefit citizens. The restoration will meet both these aims "by controlling erosion and enhancing wildlife habitats," explains Larry Prehm, Deputy City Manager. Instead of concrete channels with straight lines and an "engineered" look, the stream will meander through the wetlands, which will be expanded from two to six acres and planted with native wildflowers and wetland plants. A renovated 4,000-foot path-- half asphalt for pedestrians and bicyclists, half gravel for horseback riders-- will weave through the wetlands and cross the stream in three places. A lighted underpass will cross underneath Holly Street, a major thoroughfare that park visitors used to have to cross. Abstract designs on the bridges and the walls of the underpass will suggest the flow of water and the region's layers of sedimentary rock. lasn Large boulders in single (left), two-tier (right) and three-tier formations will create small waterfalls to help slow the flow of water. The Orchard Road steam bed (center, left) is being excavated and widened (center, right) and a new, lighted underpass will guide path visitors safely under Holly Street (above).