Grantee Research Project Results
Engineered Stormwater Management for Low-Income Urban Communities
EPA Grant Number: SU831830Title: Engineered Stormwater Management for Low-Income Urban Communities
Investigators: Obropta, Christopher , Rusciano, Gregory , Woland, Jake , O'Neill, Karen
Current Investigators: Obropta, Christopher , Berry, David , Rusciano, Gregory , Donnelly, John , Bhandari, Karan , O'Neill, Karen , Yates, Kristine , Villere, Medea , Avery, Mike
Institution: Rutgers
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: September 30, 2004 through May 30, 2005
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2004) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Nanotechnology , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Description:
This project addresses issues related to water quality and quantity in New Jersey’s urbanized watersheds and targets the need for improved environmental quality as a form of prosperity for the people in low-income urban communities.
Objective:
The primary goal of the project is to design a comprehensive blueprint for working with issues related to stormwater management on a community/grassroots level that will target pressing concerns in the realm of water quality and quantity improvement. In this case, designs will be applied to locations that are traditionally not considered ideal candidates for such improvements because of their urban setting. Water quantity and quality will be improved by designing and implementing accepted stormwater management techniques, namely engineered stormwater best management practices (BMPs), in an effort to meet New Jersey’s Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES), Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Stormwater Management Rule requirements. More specifically, this project will design a community process for addressing stormwater management practices in a low-income urban community to reduce NPS pollution by transforming vacant lots into socially beneficial open spaces.
Approach:
Designs for engineered BMPs will be created for specific sites within an urban community identified through coordination with the participating community organization. The basic idea is to prevent pollutants from entering the existing stormwater system (and ultimately, receiving water bodies), to retain pollutants where they can be more easily managed, and to increase infiltration and detention to reduce peak stormwater flows. Engineering and landscape architecture students from Rutgers University will interact with community members from the very beginning of the design process to envision the scope of the design problem together. The design plan will be developed by the students under the direction of Rutgers faculty and a teaching assistant. The project will partner with stakeholders at Rutgers, non-governmental organizations, and local government.
Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 1 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
water, drinking water, groundwater, land, sediments, precipitation, adsorption, health effects, ecological effects, race, ethnic groups, chemicals, pollution prevention, treatment, pathogens, viruses, effluent, discharge, restoration, bioremediation, public policy, public good, sustainable development, socioeconomic, engineering, social science, ecology, monitoring, surveys, measurement methods, remote sensing, northeast, Atlantic coast, Sustainable Industry/Business, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Water, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Sustainable Environment, Urban and Regional Planning, Watersheds, Water & Watershed, Environmental Engineering, stormwater drainage, total maximum daily load, stormwater treatment, watershed assessment, TMDL, total maximum daily loads, stormwater management, best management practices, low income urban communities, urbanizing watershedsRelevant Websites:
Progress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.