Embracing the Guts

Stewardship, design, and equity for St. Croix’s stormwater system

by Helen Lea, Changhao Li, and Kylee Pierce

Guts are an essential part of St. Croix’s stormwater management system, but they face many challenges, from dumping to residential flooding. This project aims to tackle these issues through a stewardship approach, redesigning the areas adjacent to the guts in a way that allows Crucians to interact with them on a daily basis. These sustained, meaningful interactions will help break down the barriers between humans and nature, creating a more symbiotic relationship between the two and promoting a more resilient future for the island.

Guts Issues

This project focuses on five sites of intervention along the Golden Rock gut. Each site has multiple site-specific approaches that are tailored to the changing conditions along the gut and imagine different futures depending on the funding and capacity available to develop the surrounding parcels. The chapter concludes with a series of takeaways from this design process that could be applied to future gut interventions across St. Croix.

The St. Croix Resiliency Studio also included:

Wynter Adams

Makayla Davis

Emily Goldstein

Jaylene Gutierrez

Amelia Marcantonio-Fields, Olivia Marcus

Eliza Nobles

Gabe Orduña

Charley Townsley

Julian Turley

Instructors

Scott Page

Jamie Granger

N

Vision

To tackle the many issues that guts face, this project proposes a plan grounded in stewardship. Stewardship promotes resilience for both human and natural systems and can help sustain the well being of the guts in the long term. Creating sustainable norms and promoting behaviors such as not dumping or staying clear of floodwater will also improve the health of the gut.6 Ultimately, stewardship is essential because it tackles issues at the source and reduces negative interactions with the guts.

Goals

Process

To make this investigation of the guts more tangible, we chose to identify a gut to use as a pilot. By studying a specific gut, we can conduct analysis of specific conditions occurring in the guts today, and provide recommendations that can be applied to the island at large in the future.

Intervention Need Index

Need Assessment

Social Vulnerability Index

Promote stewardship of the guts

1 Create a symbiotic relationship between human and natural systems

2 Mitigate flooding along the guts

3 Increase public access to the guts for community space

4

Top 10% of Estates

Population Density

Top 10% of Estates

Flood Zones

100 yr Storm

Suitability Assessment

Risk score of 3

Government owned land

Close proximity to residential areas

St. Croix Site

Golden Rock Gut

Within Christiansted, we chose to base our pilot on the Golden Rock Gut. The Golden Rock estate stretches from mountainous terrain to the south to white sand beaches to the north. The estate is also located directly next to the Water and Power Authority (WAPA) Desalination Plant and Power Plant, which can be detrimental to the nearby homes, condos and apartments. Northside Road runs through the center of this gut as well, and houses a number of commercial uses.

Gut Life Cycle

Each gut goes through a life cycle from “ridge to reef” and must perform different functions as it passes through different areas of the island. This project identifies three phases that correspond with these functions:

1. The conveyance phase focuses on getting stormwater downstream and takes place in more developed areas that have higher risks of infrastructure and residential flooding.

2. The retention phase provides opportunities to hold water, slow it down, and encourage infiltration. This phase requires areas of open space that have the capacity to retain water without affecting nearby development.

3. The release phase is the final section of the gut where it meets the sea and focuses on how to eliminate pollutants and remove trash and debris before stormwater is discharged into the sea and can affect marine ecosystems, including mangroves and coral reefs.

Design Approach

Because funding and capacity to develop a site will change over time, it is important to consider what different futures of the guts will look like, giving more flexibility in choosing which design interventions to implement. This project has selected five different sites of intervention, providing multiple approaches for each.

The first approach is a set of Baseline Recommendations, which represent the starting point and the minimum considerations that should be taken into account when intervening in the design of a gut.

The Retrofit Approach imagines what more could be done within the constraints of the existing building footprints. The Rebuild Approach then imagines what could be done if the site were to be completely redeveloped.

Baseline Recommendation

Assess water runoff that is not captured by the piped gut drainage.

Golden Rock Shopping Mall

The Golden Rock Shopping Mall is home to a supermarket, a gas station, a few small businesses, and multiple vacant storefronts. The gut is piped underneath the site and bends around the existing buildings, finally emerging above ground in a channel that leads it to Northside Road.

Retrofit Recommendation

Art installation that reveals “invisi-

Golden Rock Shopping Mall

Rebuild Recommendation

The Golden Rock Shopping Mall is home to a supermarket, a gas station, a few small businesses, and multiple vacant storefronts. The gut is piped underneath the site and bends around the existing buildings, finally emerging above ground in a channel that leads it to Northside Road.

Create new residential complex and retail center around rerouted gut.

Assess water runoff that is not captured by the piped gut drainage.

Almost the entire site is currently in the flood zone, and the piped drainage may be limiting the flow

D B A

Rebuild

Rebuild Approach infrastructure” of the piped gut.

Create new residential complex and retail center around rerouted gut.

Redeveloping the site entirely would give the opportunity to daylight and reroute the gut to follow a more natural path of water conveyance. New buildings and public space amenities could be placed on either side of the gut, allowing it to become the new focal point of the site.

This would be accompanied by “No Dumping” signage that would provide more information about the gut ecosystem and the

The C design brings D B A

C of Walking Trails

The existing parking lot is largely impervious, so increasing permeability with new landscape features may help reduce surface flooding during future storm events.

Expand the capacity of the existing channeled gut section.

A channel redesign could include gabions ramps, accessible pathways, and other features. Terraced Garden Floodable Area with the use

Of

Provide public space amenities, such as benches, tennis courts, an education center, and walking paths. Tennis Courts Education Building 0 200 400 Feet N of

Retention Park

This section of the gut is entirely natural, and the large parcels of undeveloped land make it ideal for developing the Retention Park. This site is intended to slow the flow of water and retain stormwater in order to lessen the burden on downstream sections of the gut.

Baseline Recommendation

Enhance the existing park for surrounding residents and the community.

Rebuild Recommendation

Provide public space amenities, like benches, tennis courts, an education center, and walking paths.

Rebuild Recommendation

Use retaining walls and expand the capacity of the guts for flood control.

Section A-A

Rebuild Approach

Provide public space allows for responsible interactions

Foster accessibility with the use of ramps, accessible pathways, and other features.

Section C-C

Continuing from the baseline recommendations, accessibility is still paramount in the new park. Building ramps and making sure pathways are kept clear and safe ensure that this park can be a resource for all people of St.

Create new residential complex and retail center around rerouted gut.

Redeveloping the site entirely would give the opportunity to daylight and reroute the gut to follow a more natural path of water conveyance. New buildings and public space amenities could be placed on either side of the allowing it to become the new focal point of the site.

Use retaining walls and expand the capacity of the guts for flood control.

B

B

Baseline Recommendation

Organize a gut stewardship team.

Install barriers and filtration devices.

Retrofit Recommendation

Release Point

The final intervention site focuses on filtering the water that flows through the gut before it reaches the sea. With the WAPA facility to the east and residential on all sides, this site is a prime location to consider how environmental sustainability can become part of daily life for St. Croix.

Install barriers and filtration devices.

Build gut terracing to prevent erosion.

Rebuild Recommendation

Build gut terracing prevent erosion.

Expand buffer zones.

Install barriers and filtration devices.

A catch basin for trash and a sargassum barrier off shore can prevent the guts from becoming clogged, which can cause flooding.

A catch basin for trash and a sargassum barrier off shore can prevent the guts from becoming clogged, which can cause flooding.

Build gut terracing to prevent erosion.

Build gut terracing to prevent erosion.

Fast moving water can gradually

Fast moving water can gradually erode the guts, causing sedimentation offshore. Terracing can fortify the banks of the gut and create additional spaces for rest and recreation.

Fast moving erode the guts, sedimentation can fortify the and create additional rest and recreation.

Proposed buffers and protections

Boulders to reduce runoff velocity

Establish sea level rise (SLR) protection zone.

Connecting the Retention Park to the shoreline enhances the public realm and completes the open space system, fostering stewardship and use.

Retrofit Recommendation

Based on USVI’s 2 foot SLR scenario, the mouth of the gut could be protected to prevent development in at-risk areas.

Construct new walking paths to the shoreline. research center.

Expand buffer zones. Construct runoff barriers.

USVI code currently mandates a 15 foot setback from the gut.10 Expanding this to at least 25 feet would allow for more room for gut enhancement interventions. It would also create a greater distance between the road and station near the shoreline can house well as educational programs for terracing to erosion.

Install barriers and filtration devices.

Small berms and gravel infiltration strips can be installed along the road edges to further prevent pollution from the road.

Conclusion

Although the strategies on the previous pages are meant to be viewed as a potential pilot project applied only to this specific gut, this process could inform future gut interventions across the island. The following page lists some key takeaways from the design process, based on the different site-specific approaches.

water can gradually guts, causing sedimentation offshore. Terracing the banks of the gut additional spaces for recreation.

The guts are a critical piece of St. Croix’s infrastructure and should be treated as such. They’re incredibly complex systems, performing different functions and facing different issues throughout their life cycle. Although designing physical interventions to address current issues may be difficult, it’s crucial to find ways to highlight their importance in the daily lives of Crucian residents. Creating sustained and meaningful interaction with the guts will help achieve the goal of stewardship and lead to a more resilient St. Croix.

10’ Walking Path

Sources

Section C-C

“2019 US Virgin Islands Code Title 29 - Public Planning and Development Chapter 3 - Virgin Islands Zoning and Subdivision Law Subchapter I - Zoning Law § 225. Definitions,” n.d. Watershed Consulting Associates, LLC. “Bethlehem, St. Croix Watershed Management Plan,” 2022.

“Diamond, St. Croix Watershed Management Plan,” 2022.

Lloyd Gardner. “A Strategy for Management of Ghuts in the U.S. Virgin Islands.” Water Resources Research Institute, University of the Virgin Islands., 2008.

“Riverine Flooding in the U.S. Virgin Islands.” USVI Hazard Mitigation & Resilience Plan, n.d.

Embracing the Guts

McKenzie-Mohr, Doug. “Fostering Sustainable Behavior through Community-Based Social Marketing.” American Psychologist 55, no. 5 (2000): 531–37.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Environmental Stewardship,” n.d. American Society of Landscape Architects. “The Copenhagen Cloudburst Formula: A Strategic Process for Planning and Designing Blue-Green Interventions” n.d.

“Watersquare Benthemplein.” De Urbanisten, n.d. “U.S. Virgin Islands Development Code.” Center for Planning Practice, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 2014.