Dale Morris Ecological Park

Ardurra served as Engineer of Record for the  Dale Morris Ecological Park, delivering the City of Charleston's largest nature-based flood mitigation project in South Carolina. The John's Island neighborhood had experienced years of chronic flooding, with its single access road regularly submerged during major storms and residents cut off from emergency services for hours at a time.

Watershed studies identified an approximately 574-acre drainage area routed through infrastructure that could no longer handle current runoff. Rather than upsizing pipes alone, Ardurra applied Dutch Dialogues principles, storing water near where it falls and treating natural systems as infrastructure. Using interconnected 2-D surface and subsurface hydraulic modeling, Ardurra designed a system that expands storage, slows flows, and improves downstream conditions.

The result, Dale Morris Ecological Park, converted nearly 20 acres into a functioning wetland floodplain with 11.4 acres of created and enhanced wetlands, 22 acre-feet of new flood storage, a bioengineered stream realignment, and ADA-compliant pathways connected by a pedestrian bridge. Design began in July 2020 and continued through a two-year federal permitting review, with construction completed in under a year. Ardurra and the City engaged residents throughout via open houses, door-to-door outreach, and public meetings.

Key Highlights

• Largest nature-based flood mitigation project in South Carolina, converting nearly 20 acres into a wetland floodplain with 11.4 acres of created and enhanced wetlands.

• Reduced flood recovery time from days to under eight hours during a 100-year storm event, restoring reliable emergency access for residents.

• Added 22 acre-feet of new flood storage and a bioengineered stream realignment, with the design accounting for future sea level rise and more intense storms.

• Planted more than 5,000 native trees and 9,000 native shrubs and reused every removed tree on-site, making the project carbon-neutral for its land-clearing footprint.

• Named the American Public Works Association (APWA) South Carolina Chapter's Project of the Year in the Environment category.

The  Dale Morris Ecological Park gave the City of Charleston a resilient, nature-based solution to flooding that once isolated an entire neighborhood. By restoring nearly 20 acres of wetland and adding significant flood storage, Ardurra helped protect residents and permanently preserve green space for the community.