Rogers Farm / Baxter Pond
Rogers Farm is a 72-house, phased development on Christmas Hill. The developer was initially asked to provide on-site stormwater detention reservoirs which, given the geology of the site, would have required blasting and excavation of bedrock on an area of land equivalent to three full-sized lots. The stormwater from these detention ponds would have been conveyed by storm drains directly into a tributary of Gabo Creek. An overflow dry detention pond constructed in the early 1990's was determined to be non-functional. The cost of the on-site treatment was very expensive and the developer sought a cost-effective ecological alternative. A wetland at the base of Christmas Hill had previously been used as a fill dump and was no longer adding functionality to Gabo Creek. As part of the Rogers Farm subdivision construction, this wetland was restored and expanded. The water supply to support the wetland was obtained from the stormwater originating from the Rogers Farm subdivision. The overall cost of stormwater management program was estimated to be approximately one quarter of traditional on-site detention.