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A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO STORMWATER MANAGEMENT AT THE WATERSHED SCALE.
Citation:
ROY, A., A. L. MAYER, W. D. SHUSTER, H. W. THURSTON, AND M. P. CLAGETT. A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO STORMWATER MANAGEMENT AT THE WATERSHED SCALE. Presented at 10th International Conference on Urban Drainage, Copenhagen, DENMARK, August 21 - 26, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
information
Description:
Stormwater runoff from extensive impervious surfaces in urban and suburban areas has led to human safety risks and stream ecosystem impairment, triggering an interest in watershed-scale retrofit stormwater management. Such stormwater management is of multidisciplinary relevance, posing legal, social, economic, hydrologic, and ecological challenges and constraints. A multidisciplinary approach to stormwater management is being tested in the Shepherd Creek watershed, a 20 km2 residential and forested watershed in Cincinnati, OH (USA). An assessment of the total impervious area (TIA) revealed that a majority (50-72%) of TIA in sub-watersheds is in rooftops and driveways, so we decided to use parcel-level best management practices (BMPs) in the form of rain barrels and rain gardens to mitigate stormwater runoff. To abide by laws concerning stormwater, a voluntary economic auction approach will be used to distribute BMPs and evaluate landowners' willingness-to-accept BMPs on their property in exchange for financial compensation. The hydrologic and ecological responses to retrofit stormwater BMPs will be tested using a before-after control-impact design, where the "impact" is the installation of BMPs. This research has resulted in a policy prescription for retrofit management of stormwater quantity, that is, if not ideal in one discipline, at least sound in all disciplines.