Originally known as the Mars Hill Stormwater Low Impact Development (LID) Demonstration Project, the Bailey Mundy Stormwater Education Park is an innovative green infrastructure and educational landscape located at the Mars Hill Town Hall in Madison County, North Carolina.

Developed through a collaborative effort involving local government, conservation organizations, engineers, landscape architects, and permaculture specialists, the project integrates more than 20 stormwater management practices across a 1.25-acre site. Its dual purpose is to reduce stormwater runoff and improve water quality in the Ivy River watershed while educating and inspiring the community about sustainable approaches to managing water.

Integrating Engineering, Ecology, and Permaculture

The project demonstrates how stormwater can be managed as a valuable resource rather than simply conveyed away from developed areas. Its integrated design incorporates bioretention cells, rain gardens, constructed stormwater wetlands, a submerged gravel wetland, vegetated bioswales, infiltration practices, permeable pathways, and rainwater harvesting.

Additional features include a vegetated-roof arbor, native plantings, an infiltration garden informed by permaculture principles, and an experimental mushroom mycelium filter strip designed to intercept parking lot runoff.

Together, these features create an accessible landscape where visitors can observe how natural processes help slow, infiltrate, store, and treat stormwater while supporting vegetation and habitat.

Community Collaboration and Education

Education was a central objective from the project's inception. Interpretive signage, walking paths, seating areas, and a variety of demonstration practices were incorporated to make the site an outdoor classroom for residents, students, designers, and local governments.

The project was developed for the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District, with participation from the Town of Mars Hill, Mountain Valleys Resource Conservation and Development Council, Mars Hill Housing Authority, and other community partners.

The park was subsequently named in memory of Bailey Mundy, a dear friend, mentor, and community leader whose kindness, generosity, and dedication to Madison County left a lasting legacy.

Blue Earth's Role and Project Recognition

Tim Ormond, P.E., serving as lead engineer and consultant project manager through HydroCycle Engineering (now Blue Earth Engineering), provided project planning, hydrologic analysis, engineering design, research, construction oversight, and coordination with project partners.

The project's innovative integration of low impact development and permaculture principles was documented in the technical paper LID Meets Permaculture: Sustainable Stormwater Management in the Mountains of Western North Carolina, authored by Tim Ormond and presented at the International Low Impact Development Conference in San Francisco.

In 2014, the project received the Land of Sky Regional Council's Friend of the River Award, recognizing its contributions to watershed protection and sustainable stormwater management.

The Bailey Mundy Stormwater Education Park remains an important example of how green infrastructure can bring together practical engineering, ecological design, and community education.

Read the technical paper

Design Team

Blue Earth Engineering, Inc. (formerly HydroCycle Engineering)
Mary Weber Landscape Architecture

Project Partners

Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District
Town of Mars Hill
Mars Hill Housing Authority