Stormwater Management For Smart Growth

Current trends in stormwater management add pollution control to existing priorities of flood protection and peakflow limits. From a fundamental overview of supporting information on water quality, statistics and hydrology to detailed sections devoted to treatment and management practices, this book examines the latest treatment practices and techniques for improving stormwater quality to protect against stream, river and estuary degradation.

Protecting Water Resources with Smart Growth is intended for audiences such as communities, local governments, state and regional planners already familiar with smart growth and are now seeking more ideas on how to protect their water resources. The document is a compilation of 75 policies designed to protect water resources and implement smart growth. The majority of these policies (46) are oriented to the watershed, or regional level; the other 29 are targeted for specific development sites.

How are zoning codes and building designs related to standards established by the Clean Water Act? How do transportation choices or the mix of uses in a district affect the quality and quantity of stormwater runoff? How are development patterns associated with protecting the nation's water resources, including lakes, rivers, streams, and aquifers? As studies have shown, growth and development can have profound effects on our water resources. Storm sewer overflows and polluted runoff from non-point sources are a major reason that some water bodies do not meet Clean Water Act (CWA) standards. One factor related to persistent water pollution problems is our development patterns, particularly patterns of highly dispersed development that have been common since the end of World War II. The more woodland, meadowland, and wetland areas disappear under impermeable cover, and the more miles and vehicles we drive and park on impermeable roads and highway surfaces, the more difficult protecting the quality and quantity of our water supplies becomes. In response to these current trends, local governments are developing smarter approaches to growth. They are looking for, and using, policies and tools that enhance existing neighborhoods, improve schools, protect drinking water, and provide solid housing and transportation choices. These communities are seeking smart growth—a development approach characterized by 10 smart growth principles. These principles support economic development and jobs; create strong neighborhoods with a range of housing, commercial, and transportation options; and achieve healthy communities and a clean environment. “Protecting Water Resources with Smart Growth” is intended for audiences already familiar with smart growth, who now seek specific ideas on how techniques for smarter growth can be used to protect their water resources. Smart growth principles provide a foundation—a basic springboard—for the 75 policies described in this report. The majority of these policies (46) are oriented to the watershed, or regional level; the other 29 are targeted at the level of specific development sites.

Sustainable Stormwater Management introduces engineers and designers to ideas and methods for managing stormwater in a more ecologically sustainable fashion. It provides detailed information on the design process, engineering details and calculations, and construction concerns. Concepts are illustrated with real-world examples, complete with photographs. This guide integrates the perspectives of landscape architects, planners, and scientists for a multi-disciplinary approach. This is an enlightening reference for professionals working in stormwater management, from engineers and designers to developers to regulators, and a great text for college courses.

This timely Research Handbook examines the evolution of smart growth over the past three decades, mapping the trajectory from its original principles to its position as an important paradigm in urban planning today. Critically analysing the original concept of smart growth and how it has been embedded in state and local plans, contributions from top scholars in the field illustrate what smart growth has accomplished since its conception, as well as to what extent it has achieved its goals.

The rapid conversion of land to urban and suburban areas has profoundly altered how water flows during and following storm events, putting higher volumes of water and more pollutants into the nation's rivers, lakes, and estuaries. These changes have degraded water quality and habitat in virtually every urban stream system. The Clean Water Act regulatory framework for addressing sewage and industrial wastes is not well suited to the more difficult problem of stormwater discharges. This book calls for an entirely new permitting structure that would put authority and accountability for stormwater discharges at the municipal level. A number of additional actions, such as conserving natural areas, reducing hard surface cover (e.g., roads and parking lots), and retrofitting urban areas with features that hold and treat stormwater, are recommended.