The Stormwater Report

Information is more accessible today than ever before, but when searching the internet for an answer that has real consequences for the environment and public health, the quality of that information is just as important as its accessibility. The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) has released a new knowledge platform, Access Water, that offers […]

In a new study published in the journal Global Change Biology, a team of researchers from 20 countries highlight a gap in scientific knowledge about how stormwater might affect phytoplankton growth and the health of lakes and similar freshwater bodies. Because climatologists expect climate change to cause more intense and frequent storm events, the global […]

In several mountainous and high-latitude regions, one of the major consequences of climate change means that more winter precipitation falls as rain than as snow. The downtick in snowfall and uptick in rainfall is particularly impactful in much of the western U.S., where melting winter mountain snowpack makes a crucial difference for water supplies in […]

Because green infrastructure is decentralized by nature, infrastructure managers often depend on participation from community members to ensure these systems can successfully mitigate flooding and provide sought-after co-benefits. This could entail volunteering time and labor to help maintain neighborhood green infrastructure projects or contributing funding to support upkeep activities. According to a new study from […]

A look at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 study When stormwater professionals design projects to prevent flooding from rainfall, they need to know how much precipitation their area can expect to receive during both common rain events and exceptionally intense storms. While modeling systems are invaluable tools to help develop […]

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 […]