The photos here are some 
of the many storm drain 
outfalls of Science Hill. 
These dispersed outfalls 
help to maximize the 
reintegration of storm water 
to the natural landscape 
rather than transporting it in 
a large piping system to a 
distant water body such as 
the Monterey Bay.
 McLaughlin Road
Science & Engineering Library 
The basin pictured below is designed to 
slow down storm water runoff before it 
is reintroduced to the environment. To 
prevent erosion and to increase the 
surface area for trapping dirt and debris 
the basin is lined with rock. The basin 
is equipped with three outflow boxes at 
varying heights. During very small storms 
all the runoff that enters the basin will 
infiltrate into the soil. During larger 
storms the water will accumulate until it 
reaches the lowest outflow box. From the 
outflow box the rain water is piped under 
Steinhart Way to an outfall in the forest 
above Jordan Gulch. If the storm is large 
enough water will accumulate in the basin 
to the height of the middle or even the 
highest outflow box. At that time flow 
will begin through these boxes as well. 
These boxes are piped to the same outfall 
in the forest.
 Steinhart Way 
The outflow basin shown above 
has an impervious cloth liner to 
prevent erosion during periods 
of high discharge. It is expected 
that the cloth liner will eventually 
disappear from sight as it is 
covered by leaf drop from the 
forest above.
 
This punctuated concrete 
structure surrounded by 
rock is intended to 
dissipate and soften the 
discharge from Earth and 
Marine Sciences as it 
enters Jordan Gulch.
 Interdisciplinary Sciences Building
Optical Sciences 
The rocky area shown here is actually part of a below ground 
storm water dispersal system. Under the rocks is a perforated 
pipe laid in a bed of coarse gravel. The perforated pipe is 
the end of the pipe for runoff from nearby catch basins. The 
holes in the perforated pipe spread the flow across a large 
area located on a gentle hillside, resulting in a dispersed 
and slower flow that is more able to infiltrate into the soils 
and avoids erosion. Leaf litter, trash and sediment could clog 
the perforated pipe, so the system is equipped with a cleanout 
pipe as well as an overflow outlet.
The campus also uses above ground perforated pipes, called 
level spreaders, for dispersal of collected storm water. An 
example, not pictured here, can be found on the hillside south 
of the Core West Parking Structure.
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