![]() With increased environmental awareness and an impetus to steward our water resources, there is new thinking when it comes to stormwater handling. It was viewed only from the angle that it is a problem to fix. Typically, the traditional manner of thinking was to focus solely of moving the water efficiently and safely to where it could be deposited in a distant water source. When designing and laying out cities, it is important to consider how much ground with the ability to absorb water could be lost to development and to mitigate that. As mentioned, it is a critical element of infrastructure in highly populated areas to minimize inconveniences and disasters. The field of stormwater management seeks to monitor, measure, divert, and control the flow of stormwater. Stormwater can still be an element of concern in rural areas where there are low lying areas or areas along riverbeds and lakes prone to flooding. ![]() More rural areas with lots of exposed ground offer much more opportunity for the water to find it’s way quickly into the ground and back into the water table. It is then not a surprise that stormwater is a more prevalent concern in largely populated areas where the earth’s surface is covered predominantly by concrete or building roofs. The stormwater on the hillside with vegetation also will have moved with much less speed and force. If I dump the same amount on a soil with a high degree of permeability and a large amount of vegetation, it is obvious that by the time the water reaches the bottom of the slope, it will have decreased somewhat whereas the concrete slope will experience no decrease at all. If I dump 500 gallons of water all at once on a concrete slope, it has zero chance of being absorbed and decreased in volume by any absorption by the surface under it. It also makes sense that the surface properties are a large determining factor. The steeper the ground, the faster gravity can move the water. The accumulation of storm water depends on many factors like the rate of rain or snow melt, the pitch of the slope in the immediate area, and the type of surface that it falls on. ![]() The damage caused by stormwater can be minimal or catastrophic, like the flooding damage caused by hurricanes. An extreme volume example is a flooded river with a car bobbing up and down in it as it goes on its merry way.ĭepending on the situation, stormwater can be a harmless annoyance, or it can be dangerous, like when it kills people who think they can make it through that giant lake on the road or go over a bridge that has water running over it. A simple low volume flow example would be a tree branch that flows downhill into a stream. The contaminants can also be sediment that has been eroded by the hydraulic force of the moving water and has continued to be carried by the force of the flow.ĭepending on the rate of rainfall/melt, the hydraulic force produced by the movement of water can also collect large objects into its stream of flow and continue to carry them along. Stormwater consists of the original water and any other elements, whether they are liquids or solids, that have dissolved into the water or are being carried by the water.Ĭommon contaminants contained in stormwater include pesticides, chemicals, deicers, road salt, oil, grease, you get the picture about possible liquids that can be absorbed easily by running or pooling water. Stormwater is usually caused by heavy rainfall or significant amounts of snow melting at once. Stormwater is the run-off or pooling of rain, melting snow, or any precipitation types in between that cannot be absorbed quickly enough by the surface it falls on.
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