Greening up stormwater infrastructure: Measuring vegetation to establish context and promote cobenefits in a diverse set of US cities

Spahr, K.; Bell, Colin D.; McCray, J. E.; Hogue, T. S.

doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2019.126548

Cited by 27 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…However, the co-benefits are unlikely to be realized if the biofilters are unvegetated, as is the case for much of the SCMs installed in the US city of Philadelphia. 129 The co-benefits of biochar-augmented biofilters are unknown, but it is likely they provide similar if not more cobenefits than conventional biofilters because of improved plant health, assuming they occupy the same footprint and have similar planting schemes.…”

Section: Social and Economic Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biochar-augmented biofilters to improve pollutant removal from stormwater – can they improve receiving water quality?

Boehm

Bell

Fitzgerald

et al. 2020

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol.

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Section: Social and Economic Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biochar-augmented biofilters to improve pollutant removal from stormwater – can they improve receiving water quality?

Boehm

Bell

Fitzgerald

et al. 2020

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol.

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“…Although underestimation of design flows is traditionally of greater concern than the large overestimates identified here (Read and Vogel 2015;Vogel and Castellarin 2017), oversizing infrastructure is not necessarily conservative or desirable (Tung 2005). Even where water-sensitive urban design is employed and larger amounts of green space could increase ecological and environmental co-benefits (Spahr et al 2020), oversizing is not necessarily benign. Instead, over sizing can lead to unnecessary capital, maintenance, and opportunity costs, as illustrated in Figure 7.…”

Section: Rational Methods Predictions Can Be More Than 500% Different From "True" Design Flowsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Implications of Distinct Methodological Interpretations and Runoff Coefficient Usage for Rational Method Predictions

Lapides

Sytsma

Thompson

2021

J American Water Resour Assoc

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The meaning of a design flow calculated using the Rational Method is poorly defined, and correct parameter specification is particularly fraught on dry soils with high infiltration losses.ABSTRACT: The Rational Method is one of the most widely used methods for estimating peak discharge in small catchments. There are at least three forms of the Rational Method in use: deterministic, stochastic, and hybrid Rational Methods. These different forms are associated with distinct definitions of the runoff coefficient and produce distinct design flows, each of which has different risks associated with their exceedence. In this study, we firstly differentiate these forms of the Rational Method and show that a key point of difference between the forms lies in their interpretations of the runoff coefficient parameter. We then focus on the widely used hybrid Rational Method and demonstrate that the runoff coefficient is not only challenging to interpret, but is also dependent on land cover types, storm duration, and infiltration losses. With the understanding that most design manuals treat the runoff coefficient as a constant dependent on land cover and independent of storm properties, we explore the magnitude of error in design flows resulting from these assumptions. They suggest that the magnitudes of error associated with the conventional application of the Rational can be >500%. These issues with interpretation and internal consistency in the treatment of terms in the Rational Method suggest that it may not be possible to achieve reliable or consistent peak flow estimates using the Rational Method, motivating the use of more complex design tools.

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“…The environmental benefits of SCP include improved hydrological performance (Dagenais et al, 2017;Spahr et al, 2020) such as stormwater quality improvement, flood mitigation, runoff reduction and groundwater recharge, as well as indirect benefits related to ecosystem services (Andersson et al, 2015;Dietrich and Rahul Yarlagadda, 2016;Gallo et al, 2020). Improved ecosystem services include adjustment to the local microclimate, carbon sequestration and storage, biodiversity conservation and restoration, and air pollution (Gómez-Baggethun and Barton, 2013;Ando and Netusil, 2018;Kazak et al, 2018).…”

Section: Environmental Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stormwater Management Modeling in “Sponge City” Construction: Current State and Future Directions

Liu

Cui

Tian

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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In response to urban pluvial flooding and pollution, the Chinese government proposed a “sponge city” policy in 2013 that aims to improve urban stormwater management and promote sustainable urban development. However, at present, sponge city construction is still in its exploratory stage. It is still not clear which models are capable of simulating the six key processes (i.e., “retention,” “infiltration,” “storage,” “purification,” “discharge,” and “utilization”) of sponge city practices. Its various benefits (e.g., social, economic and environmental benefits) have not yet been systematically investigated in the context of the sponge city. In this study, we reviewed and compared 19 urban stormwater management models (including 13 hydrological models and 10 decision-support tools, as there are 4 overlap ones) and investigated their application in China. Firstly, we examined the mechanisms behind the hydrological models and compared the abilities of the models to simulate various processes. Secondly, we analyzed what kinds of benefits can be addressed by these decision support tools (DSTs). Finally, we discussed the applications and limitations of the models in various climate zones in China. The findings suggest that none of the models consider the impact of climate change on the sponge city practices (SCP) and none of DSTs can simulate the negative performance of SCP. Furthermore, the lack of sufficient databases in China limited the applications of many of the models. Additionally, we found that the hydrological processes corresponding to “storage” were given more attention in southern China, and “infiltration” of stormwater was of greater concern in northern China. In the context of sponge city construction, this paper provides suggestions for future model development of urban stormwater management in China, such as the development of a stormwater database and the incorporation of long-term climate change impacts into the model.

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Greening up stormwater infrastructure: Measuring vegetation to establish context and promote cobenefits in a diverse set of US cities

Cited by 27 publications

References 34 publications

Biochar-augmented biofilters to improve pollutant removal from stormwater – can they improve receiving water quality?

Biochar-augmented biofilters to improve pollutant removal from stormwater – can they improve receiving water quality?

Implications of Distinct Methodological Interpretations and Runoff Coefficient Usage for Rational Method Predictions

Stormwater Management Modeling in “Sponge City” Construction: Current State and Future Directions

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