The Stormwater Report

Predicting the size and expected runoff volumes from hailstorms is notoriously difficult, according to researchers with the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Because cloud systems that produce rain often have different features than those that produce hail, conventional prediction methods often fail to yield accurate forecasts. NCAR researchers investigating the challenge of hailstorm […]

What’s the difference between a crop field and a large commercial plant nursery? As it turns out, very little — at least in terms of runoff generation. Although nurseries generally grow tree crops and ornamental plants in pots rather than fields, both field crops and nursery planters contribute to water pollution when rain washes excess […]

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has released the results of a new study highlighting a looming threat to vulnerable marine life in the coming decades: urbanization. In the Piedmont region, which stretches from southern New York to central Alabama, the urban coverage of cities such as Washington, D.C., and Atlanta is expected to nearly triple […]

To help curb the effects of urban runoff on streambank erosion, the question municipalities must confront is whether to reduce flows or toughen channel banks. The best answer, according to Rod Lammers, lead author of a new University of Georgia (Athens) research article exploring ways to optimize erosion control, is both. The challenge is getting […]

Anyone who’s ever lived in a city is probably more familiar than they’d like to be with the urban heat island effect, which causes cities to become significantly hotter than their natural surroundings. The effect has many causes, but one big contributor is impermeable concrete. In many cities, impermeable concrete covers more than 30% of […]

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 […]

Green infrastructure designs that fail to consider the effects of the installation’s placement or the types of wildlife it may attract can increase risks of spreading serious diseases, according to research published in the journal, Ecology and Epidemiology. “There seems to be a prevailing assumption among the general public that everything that is nature – […]

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are a newly understood phenomenon, officially defined by the American Meteorological Society (AMS; Boston) just 2 years ago. ARs – narrow, fast-moving bands of highly concentrated atmospheric water vapor that commonly stretch hundreds of miles in length – often result in severe rain or snow storms when that vapor makes landfall. On […]

From releasing greenhouse gases while in the air to discharging fuels, lubricants, and other potentially toxic chemicals before takeoff, countless studies have determined that air travel has an undeniable effect on the environment. Now, a newly published study, led by University of Helsinki (Finland) researchers, finds that planes flying above clouds during precipitation events can […]

More than 40,000 different varieties of rice are grown on every continent (except Antarctica), making rice one of the world’s best-loved food crops. And according to new findings from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers, rice crops also have a secondary function: They keep pesticides and other contaminants out of vulnerable waterways.   The problem […]