The City of South San Francisco’s Orange Memorial Park Storm Water Capture project, managed by Swinerton Management & Consulting (SMC), has won multiple awards. The American Public Works Association-Silicon Valley chapter (APWA) awarded the project the “Environmental/Park; $5M-$25M Project” award and the “Project of the Year” award in June 2022. In August 2022, the California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA) also recognized the project with an “Outstanding Stormwater Capture and Use Project” award. The project began construction in early 2021 and was completed in May 2022.

This regional stormwater capture project is the first of its kind in Northern California. It diverts dry-weather flow and the initial urban stormwater runoff from Colma Creek into an underground system within Orange Memorial Park. The system then treats the water to remove trash, debris, and sediment. A large cistern under the future sports fields stores water for further treatment and disinfection to meet irrigation and other non-potable demands, saving over 15 million gallons of potable water per year. When full, the cistern overflows into an infiltration gallery that recharges 55 million gallons of groundwater annually.

The Orange Memorial Park Storm Water Capture project has also been recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Region Nine as the “2022 Outstanding Environmental Engineering Project.” ASCE Region Nine presented the award at the Annual California Infrastructure Symposium and Awards Dinner held in San Diego. The project conserves 15 million gallons of water, recharges 55 million gallons of groundwater, and returns 130 million gallons of clean water to the bay. The project’s second phase will involve renovating the baseball fields into a sports complex with artificial turf, sports lights, scoreboards, and a concessions building for baseball, softball, and soccer. SMC will continue to serve as construction manager for this phase 2 Orange Memorial Park Sports Field project.