‘Leave the trees’: Public expresses concerns over Topeka Zoo’s drainage project

Members of the public expressed concern Monday during a meeting about a storm water management project at the Topeka Zoo.

Zoo director Brendan Wiley said the development of a detention pond and drainage swale, a shallow ditch with sloping sides, is necessary to meet the minimum standards laid out in the Clean Water Act. The pond will collect water and slowly release it toward the Kansas River. Plants will surround the pond and run along the swale, which will help filter pollutants out of the storm water.

The plants, including native grasses, will also form wetlands.

The project will require about 43 trees to be removed, according to Wiley. Some of the trees may be relocated while others will be recycled.

Don Moler asked why the pond couldn’t be placed in an area where fewer trees would have to be removed.

Wiley said they made efforts to minimize the effect on trees.

Michael Hooper proposed bulldozing Helen Hocker Theater and putting the pond in its place.

“Helen Hocker’s not natural — cut that down, tear it down, leave the trees which are beloved and used by us every day of the year,” Hooper said. “We need more trees in this world, not less. We are in a polluted world that is losing its ozone layer and you destroying these trees is contributing to the demise of our earth.”

Wiley said he could guarantee the project benefits the environment from a storm water perspective and that more trees will be planted than are there now.

“We can’t continue to shirk the responsibility of managing storm water,” Wiley said, “and unfortunately that means something like this has to fit into the landscape.”