Regular readers may have followed our articles on the monitoring results of the two Silva Cell systems in Wilmington, North Carolina by Dr. Bill Hunt’s lab. Jonathan Page is an Extension Engineer in Dr. Hunt’s lab and was involved in the data collection, analysis, and writing for this project. He holds a B.S. degree in Civil… More
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) together with the Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) host one of the best research-driven conferences we’ve been to about low-impact development, held last month in Houston, TX. Today, L. Peter MacDonagh, FASLA – who spoke at the conference about using trees and soils for stormwater management – will share his Top… More
Cities are the cultural and economic centres of the world whose progress depends upon effective management and evidence-based policy making.” – ISO 37120 Briefing Note “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not” – Dr. Seuss, The Lorax Cities are growing rapidly and we all have a… More
Curtis Hinman is a senior scientist with Herrera Environmental Consultants in Seattle, WA. Before joining Herrera, Curtis was faculty with Washington State University (WSU) Extension and the Department of Biological Systems Engineering, and was the University’s Green Stormwater Infrastructure Specialist. With WSU he co-designed and was lead scientist for the WSU Low Impact Development (LID)… More
We’ve all taken shelter under a tree’s canopy during a storm, grateful for its ability to intercept rain. You may not realize this, but rainwater that passes through tree canopies is modified both volumetrically and chemically in processes that have been relatively well studied in forests. That modification, which encompasses several different components, is what… More
Question: What does the term “groundwater recharge” mean and why is it important? Answer: Let’s start with the term “groundwater.” Groundwater is defined as the water that is obtained by pumping from below the ground surface from storage units commonly called aquifers. This water is an important source for agriculture irrigation as well as domestic consumption…. More
The Silva Cell is well known as a suspended pavement system that provides large soil volumes to aid tree growth and health. Less well known is the capacity of the Silva Cell system to provide onsite stormwater management. Whereas traditional stormwater management has focused on collecting stormwater in piped networks and transporting it offsite as… More
We write a lot about the benefits that trees and soils have on water quality. But what, exactly, do they improve? Back in 2011, landscape Nathalie Shanstrom tackled this topic, explaining in easy-to-understand terms what we mean by when we refer to water quality improvements. While seriously impaired runoff is not a concern on most sites,… More
In October, I wrote about some of our concerns with Philadelphia’s highly-lauded green infrastructure plan, now codified in their Green Streets Design Manual. This plan has received more praise and recognition than any other citywide green infrastructure policy that I’m aware of (here are a few examples). I’m thrilled to see a major green infrastructure… More
Last year, Jim Urban wrote a post for this blog entitled Against Mulch. The principle reasons he cited for his position were: 1) Mulch floats and can clog drains and releases “lots of phosphorus” as it breaks down, and 2) work by Gilman et al. that suggest that mulch does not reduce evapo-transpiration. We discussed… More
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