Stormwater Management Design – Keeping You High and Dry
Stormwater management design is critical to keeping our communities high and dry.
Do you become alarmed when there is a big downpour and worry that your basement will flood? Are you concerned that your route to work will be blocked by flooded streets and highways? You are not alone. Cities and towns are concerned about stormwater management too. Heavy rainfalls can overburden municipal sewer systems, resulting in flooding, property damage, and harm to residents.
This is why municipalities work with developers and civil engineers to provide the proper infrastructure to support good drainage in residential, commercial, and industrial areas. Architects and landscape architects work with clients to design building systems and surrounding landforms to divert rainwater, protecting property and lives.
Stormwater support systems can take several forms:
- Undeveloped open land, including yard areas and parks, that are graded to provide proper drainage.
- Engineered retention basins that maintain stormwater as a pond.
- Engineered detention basins that detain rain water for later release. Detention basins are typically engineered to drain within 36 hours, limiting the presence of standing water per health department regulations.
- Building stormwater removal systems, such as sump pumps, that remove ground water via underground piping to the municipal stormwater infrastructure. In some areas sump pumps are allowed to release groundwater over adjacent lands.
- Paved areas, such as paths, roads, highways, and parking lots, that are graded to provide proper drainage into adjacent grass areas, swales, and gutters.
Each of these systems plays a critical role in managing stormwater and mitigating the impact of flooding.
In recent years, additional “green” strategies have been implemented to help manage stormwater runoff. Elements such as permeable paving and bioswales allow some of the stormwater to penetrate the ground, thereby limiting the volume of water entering sewer systems during the height of the storm. Bioswales are planted with hardy vegetation which provides the added benefits of filtering the stormwater before it enters municipal sewer systems or nearby lakes and streams. Park areas which are normally playing fields and prairies have been designed to serve as detention basins during severe weather events.
Stormwater management design plays a critical role in managing stormwater, mitigating flooding, and keeping our communities high and dry.
Learn more about civil engineering and the role engineers play in designing our community’s infrastructure to prevent flooding. http://www.asce.org/
Check out the Environmental Protection Agency’s best practices for stormwater management design.
