Stormwater Management Approaches are Evolving Dramatically in the U.S. & Canada
Stormwater Management Approaches are Evolving Dramatically in the U.S. & Canada
As this insightful article from January 8th, 2019 states, stormwater management approaches in the US (and Canada as well) are “evolving dramatically”. Let’s take a moment to explore the use of the word “evolving”. Evolving carries with it the connotation of growth from one point to another, not just change, rather an intellectually based growth process.
This, in itself, is both encouraging and motivating in our journey towards including LID and green infrastructure and making those practices mainstream for a wide range of applications.
Those of us involved in the design and building worlds know first hand that the focus of managing storm water on site as a way to not only reduce the pollutants entering our natural water bodies but also as a way to minimize the damaging and costly effects of flooding, is becoming more and more prevalent.
More Municipalities in North America Encouraging LID & Green Infrastructure
It is further encouraging to note, as pointed out by George Frantz in the article, that more and more municipalities across the continent are doing their part to encourage and support the inclusion of LID and green infrastructure.
Mr. Frantz brings a very important point that should be a paramount focus going forward. Perhaps the next step in the evolution of storm water management practices should be to unify efforts to make the inclusion of LID and green infrastructure aesthetically pleasing as well as effective, efficient and affordable.
China Implementing “Sponge Cities” with Storm Water Management Technologies
Densely populated countries such as China are implementing designs which include large “sponge cities”, centrally located parkland type areas which are multi-functional and include storm water management technologies incorporated into the park designs. As with any change, there are questions and potential complications. Who is in charge of the facility for the design, the construction and the long term maintenance? How can the area be adapted if the density further increases? Where would the initial land come from for such projects assuming the area of concern is already fully developed?
Stormwater Management & LID Permeable Paving Becoming Easier & More Affordable
With more and more products and technological options available, effective storm water management is becoming easier and more affordable. Centralizing water storage efforts in a manner that can be multi functional and can increase and enhance the green space available will benefit us all. We have to learn from the initiatives of others to help our evolving focus on green infrastructure and LID and our new storm water management goals be easily attainable.
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LID Permeable Paving Canada is the exclusive distributor of the Ecoraster permeable paving system in Ontario, Canada. For further information, call us or fill out our contact form to learn more. We would be pleased to schedule a time for an informational presentation or arrange to have you visit our different installation sites.