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Understanding
Standard
land development can drastically alter waterways. Increasing storm water runoff associated with development often begins a
chain of events that includes flooding, erosion, stream channel alteration and
ecological damage.
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"Polluted
runoff is now widely recognized by scientists as the single largest
threat to water quality in the U.S."
- USEPA
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Combined with an increase in man-made pollutants, these changes in
waterway form and function result in degradation. These systems are
no longer capable of providing good drainage, healthy habitat or
natural pollutant processing.
Local officials interested in protecting community waters must go beyond
standard flood and erosion control practices. They must
address the issue of polluted runoff through a multi-level strategy
of planning, site design and storm water treatment.
What
Can Communities Do?
Flood
and erosion control have long been part of the municipal land use
regulatory process. They are usually addressed with engineered
systems designed to pipe drainage off-site as quickly and
efficiently as possible.
Flooding
and erosion, however, are only two of the more easily recognized
components of the impact of waterway development. Standard drainage
"solutions" address neither the root cause of these
symptoms – increased runoff due to the way we develop land – or
the resulting negative effects.
In
order to
truly address development impacts, local officials need to look at
their waterways as an interconnected system. They also need to
recognize the fundamental water cycle changes: stream form and
function, aquatic ecology and water quality.
Action
Strategy
There
are numerous ways to reduce development impacts on water quantity
and quality. Preventing such impacts in the first place is the
most cost-effective approach.
To
this end, local officials should consider a three-tiered strategy:
1.
natural
resource-based planning
2.
appropriate,
low-impact site design
3.
innovative storm water treatment
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