When walking to class, it begins to rain. You forgot your rain jacket at home, but think nothing of it. Instead, you continue on your way — then it starts downpouring. Within minutes, you are jumping over rivers in the middle of the sidewalk or lakes in parking lots. App State needs to come up with a better drainage system before the whole campus floods.
It almost feels as though every time it rains, there is a flood watch. People have to stay in their homes or risk the crazy roads to get to campus if they are within driving distance. If they are within walking distance, you might as well be wading through a pool.
Some people might think the water runoff should be easy to maneuver because App State is in a mountain range, so it should be easy to direct the water from one place to another. They would be wrong. Where there are downward slopes, there are also upward slopes. There are plenty of mini hills on campus that cause water to pool at the bottom, where there is nowhere to go.
There are so many ways for App State to help with this problem, one being permeable pavement. Permeable pavements will help keep water from collecting onto the sidewalks and parking lots, creating actual walking paths while it’s raining. This option also helps reduce the amount of road salt needed for those snowy days, when the slush sometimes builds up onto the roads.
Another thing that might help is filling in the potholes in the roads and parking lots. For anyone who has ever gone into Doughton Hall Lot or Legends Lot, the amount of potholes is astronomical. Many times, you might go to step into what you think is flat ground, instead you find yourself stepping into a knee-deep puddle. Last year, App State repaved many of the parking spots on campus — however, it would be nice if they went over the more used, but still neglected, spots.
The roads also seem neglected sometimes because there is no beautiful greenery in the dividers or surroundings of the roads. One would think that because Boone has so many beautiful sites and is known for its abundance of greenery, there would be some sort of dividers in the road filled with greenery, but alas there is nothing. Creating green streets would allow water to flow off the roads and sidewalks and into grassy areas separating the road and sidewalk, reducing flooding. This also would create a greener atmosphere within Boone. However, this is not the easiest way to fix draining issues.
There needs to be more rain gardens that are able to collect rainwater and help reduce the amount of flooding in one particular area. Rain gardens are effective and in a town full of hills, these would be easy to make at the bottom of hills and create a beautiful environment by collecting runoff. By doing this, rain is unable to collect at the bottom and ultimately create a swimming pool.
App State is a wonderful campus filled with beautiful sites and a wonderful atmosphere. However, students should not have to worry about being washed away when it is sprinkling outside. Putting more measures in place to ensure students and residents safety is paramount to a good college, especially when it comes to possible flooding.
