Audubon Grove is a 23-acre, 51-lot single-family residential neighborhood in the Springwoods Village master-planned community located in northern Harris County. Springwoods Village is home to a 400-ac Exxon campus and has been master-planned as a model for low-impact development (LID). Costello is proud to have been able to contribute to this exciting development as the engineer for Audubon Grove.

The design of Audubon Grove was subject to strict community design guidelines, which required the implementation of LID techniques to handle stormwater runoff, making Audubon Grove the first LID subdivision section in Harris County. Costello worked closely with Harris County to adhere to the newly-formed Harris County LID Criteria.

In order to achieve the desired results of LID, the post-development runoff was handled in a way that closely mimics pre-development runoff. Costello achieved this result by utilizing a single-sided roadside ditch with innovative drop structures, shallow stormwater quality ponds with Focal Point Bioretention Systems, and reduced impervious area (22’ wide streets with 6’ soft shoulders). By adhering to Harris County’s LID Criteria, the development reduced the required detention capacity from 0.55 ac-ft/ac to 0.35 ac-ft/ac.