Stormwater management is the set of policies and practices that institutions must implement to reduce runoff water that goes into streets, lawns and other bodies of water like ponds and lakes. This runoff is referred to as stormwater, which is basically just water from a storm. In non-urban settings, stormwater is useful because it helps replenish the soil and the underlying water table as well as natural bodies of water. While stormwater management is crucial in all kinds of environments, stormwater management is particularly essential in urban areas where runoff water could contain harmful debris and chemicals.
Stormwater management starts off with the submission of management plans that are part of compliance requirements for industrial, commercial, and residential developments. These plans must include long-term plans for water harnessing, updating outdated water systems, and putting infrastructure to prevent contamination of water bodies and flooding. These must take into consideration unique factors such as geography, size, financing, and regulatory considerations.
Management plans also require cooperation and coordination with existing structures and facilities in the area and must consider broader community agendas such as source water protection, reduction in municipal sewage overloading, development of public spaces like gardens and parks, as well as potential public health risks.
Green Practices in Stormwater Management
Stormwater management practices and policies are formulated by national environmental agencies. In the United States, the agency concerned is the EPA or the US Environmental Protection Agency. Aside from conventional stormwater practices, the EPA is pushing forward with the implementation of green or sustainable stormwater management systems. Sustainable management involves the reductions of runoff and improvement of water quality through site grading, soil and vegetation and the natural processes involved to absorb and filter water. This system also aims to lower the incidence of erosion, flooding and water pollution. Green systems make use of specialized infrastructure such as rain barrels and cisterns, permeable pavements, bioretention areas, vegetated filter strips and swales, riparian buffers and sand and organic filters.
The Need for Stormwater Management Training
Stormwater management is crucial especially in urbanized and developed areas where impervious surfaces abound. These are pavements and roofs that prevent precipitation from soaking into the ground but instead divert flow through ditches and drainage systems and sewers. If these systems are overwhelmed, the stormwater can cause downstream flooding, erosion of streambanks, overflows in the storm and sanitary sewer systems and even infrastructure damage.
Staff training is crucial because in most institutions they are the ones who implement these plans. Effective stormwater management is, therefore, the result of a good understanding of EPA policies and regulations, cooperation between the company staff and compliance consultants, and proper implementation.