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 […]

People experiencing homelessness often have a difficult time securing work even when highly qualified. At the same time, municipal stormwater agencies working under limited budgets are always in search of outside-the-box ways to keep an ever-growing volume of urban debris out of waterways. A water quality-focused pilot program in Fairfax County, Va., aims to connect […]

Urbanization affects flash-flood risks differently in eastern and western U.S. For many water professionals, it may seem like Stormwater Management 101: As cities grow and develop over pervious spaces, stormwater runoff has increasingly fewer places to soak into and often flows into urban waterways. But how that extra runoff entering streams affects flash flooding may […]

When Hurricane Katrina tore across Louisiana in 2005, decimating wide swaths of New Orleans, the region’s vulnerability to flooding from severe storms became a cautionary tale for municipalities around the world. In the years since, local, state, and federal governments have spent more than $20 billion surrounding the city with updated flood control measures, explored […]

Since the program launched in 2016, more than 500 U.S. professionals have now received credentials as graduates of the National Green Infrastructure Certification Program (NGICP). NGICP provides entry-level workers with the skills to construct, inspect, and maintain green stormwater infrastructure according to international best-practice standards. The program, developed by the Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, […]

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 […]

In July, flooding caused by an intense rainstorm in the Halkidiki region of northern Greece led to 7 deaths and more than 100 injuries. The flooding, which occurred in the middle of one of Greece’s traditionally driest months, knocked out water and power in much of the affected area for several weeks. The flood effects […]

Every 4 years, experts with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE; Washington, D.C.) evaluate the overall condition of U.S. infrastructure how a teacher grades a student: the best funded and maintained infrastructure sectors receive an “A,” while chronically failing and under-supported sectors receive an “F.” ASCE’s Infrastructure Report Card traditionally ranks 16 sectors ranging […]

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 – […]

Read the latest online issue of World Water: Stormwater Management, a quarterly international publication from the Water Environment Federation.