Stormwater Management

More Than a Rain Garden: Green Infrastructure Addresses Environmental Problems Across Scales

December 15, 2019 in Managing Water in the Landscape, Stormwater Management

by Kate Cholakis and Seth Charde

Green infrastructure is trending, achieving buzzword status within the fields of civil engineering, landscape architecture, city planning, and climate resiliency. Professionals in these fields might use this term to describe a rain garden, green roof, or plant-based sewage treatment plant. The term might also be used to describe a forested city park, restored urban stream corridor, or expanded coastal marsh. These strategies share the connecting thread of water management.

Growing Green Infrastructure

December 15, 2019 in Managing Water in the Landscape, Stormwater Management

by Leslie Nemo

As cities’ interest in green infrastructure grows, so does the need to develop strategies and resources to maintain it. Urban projects designed to manage stormwater promise huge benefits as climate changes — but they also demand a new kind of care.

Image 8 boardwalk over vernal pool.cropped

The Art of Integrating Rainwater

July 15, 2019 in Stormwater Management

by Steven Torgerson

Both a precious resource and a damaging event, rain is a natural part of the earth’s ecological system. Although we can’t control the rain, we can help direct rainwater once it hits the earth. And direct it in ways both practical and beautiful.

MountainMoss_Moss_Species_Polytrichum_Mounds.cropped

MOSS: Providing Year-round Green Solutions for Erosion Control

July 15, 2019 in Erosion Control, Landscape Design, Stormwater Management

by Annie (Mossin’ Annie) Martin

Mosses are far more than an appealing green ground cover; these verdant miniature plants can provide solutions for challenging erosion issues in today’s landscapes. In this case study, moss species, intentionally planted, are the entire stormwater solution.

Greening Greenfield

February 15, 2019 in Stormwater Management, Urban Landscaping

by Julie Snell and Michele Adams

Albert Greenfield Elementary School in Philadelphia was the first school in the district to implement a “green schoolyard.” This project was an early example of how public landscapes in the city can offer significant connections to the natural world, benefiting students and the community.

Sustainable Stormwater Using Bioretention: Engineering Better Water Quality

February 15, 2019 in Stormwater Management

by Allen P. Davis As (sub)urban growth continues to consume undeveloped land, stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces grows in importance as a contributor to water resources degradation. Impervious surface creates surface runoff at the expense of infiltration and evapotranspiration. These increased stormwater flows and volumes can erode streams and rivers causing significant damage to property,…

Deluge and Drought: a Landscape Designed for Rainwater Management

November 15, 2018 in Rain Gardens, Stormwater Management

by Julia Bunn The summer of 2018 here in the Midwest (Chicago area), regional weather conditions had a huge effect on installation of a landscape on the property of one client. I’ve anchored my story in the unfolding of project events in relationship to the rain. After all, the main purpose of the entire landscape…

Water Wise & Whimsy

June 15, 2017 in Conservation, Landscape Design, Stormwater Management

by Soleil Tranquilli After years of not quite getting around to designing my own landscape, I finally took the first steps toward a complete renovation in 2009. Eight years later, the renovated yard demonstrates our priorities: water conservation, use of predominantly native plants, reuse of materials, and support of wildlife, especially of pollinators. My home…

Artful Rainwater Design: A Case Study

January 16, 2017 in Landscape Design, Stormwater Management

by Stuart Echols and Eliza Pennypacker From Artful Rainwater Design by Stuart Echols and Eliza Pennypacker. Copyright©2015 by the authors. Reproduced by permission of Island Press, Washington, D.C. Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus, Mesa, Arizona – A Case Study

Lessons Learned from a Stormwater Wetland Treatment System

December 15, 2016 in Stormwater Management

by Randy Rath It has been several years since the historic West Brook Conservation Initiative (WBCI) came online and started to treat stormwater flowing into Lake George in upstate New York. (Read a 2013 article about the project.) The man-made stormwater wetland treatment system was completed and planted in 2012, and the vegetation was given…

From Dirty Streets to Clean BMPs – Maintaining rain gardens along roadways

October 16, 2016 in Rain Gardens, Stormwater Management

by Mary Travaglini When my dad was a child growing up five miles from downtown Philadelphia, he and his friends would lie in the roadway gutter pans during rain storms to let the water wash over them. It was the 1930s version of a water park. When I tell people this, they think it’s pretty…

Paving the Way (Permeably) for John Hancock Charles River Walk

September 15, 2016 in Low Impact Development, Stormwater Management

by Trevor Smith The rising sun peeks over the Charles River, golden rays explode through the towering oak canopy. The heavy sweet scent of Clethra perfumes the air with undertones of fresh water and earth. A heron fishes for breakfast just off shore; a deer walks up the bank from the water as turkeys root…

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