The Stormwater Report

New visualization tool mixes FEMA data with video-game technology to model flood damages before they occur The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers a long list of tools and datasets to help U.S. residents understand their specific property’s risk of experiencing severe flooding. However, terms like 100-year flood and storm surge do little to […]

Study claims stormwater infrastructure design standards fail to keep pace with today’s precipitation Stormwater management regulations have come a long way since U.S. Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972. Back then, stormwater dischargers were largely exempt from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit requirements until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed specific regulations […]

In coastal Hampton, Va., city planners are considering an innovative financing strategy to support new green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) projects. This aims to turn the tide against the severe weather and rising sea levels that have led to increased flooding. The city hopes that by issuing “environmental impact bonds” (EIBs) to investors who seek financial, […]

Quebec City has deployed a real-time decision-support system that uses modeling, monitoring, and other measures to regulate flooding conditions for a 100-year storm event. Authors Diana Qing Tao and Martin Pleau of Tetra Tech and Denis Brisson and Nathalie Jolicoeur of the City of Quebec explain how the real-time control (RTC) system provides flood protection. […]

In South Carolina, which barely escaped the brunt of Hurricane Irma last summer, municipal stormwater managers are demonstrating that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to limit runoff pollution. And as the risks of poorly conceived stormwater management plans heighten with more frequent and more intense precipitation, the state’s big cities and beach towns are taking […]

Last October, DC Water (Washington, D.C.) wrapped up construction on the First Street Tunnel, an 822-m-long (2700-ft-long), 7-m-wide (23-ft-wide) stormwater pipe located approximately 10 stories beneath Bloomingdale, one of the District’s most historically flood-prone neighborhoods. In July, the First Street Tunnel passed its biggest real-world test to date. When a line of severe storms hit […]