Researchers within the UNREAL Lab work to quantify the effects of distributed urban stormwater BMPs at the residential neighborhood and city scales by monitoring stormwater runoff from select neighborhoods in Iowa as well as by modeling the hydrologic impacts of BMP adoption. Additionally, results from surveys of urban residential homeowners are being used to better understand the factors that affect small-scale BMP adoption on private land and to improve education and outreach efforts by leaders of conservation groups, restoration projects, and by city officials.
For the first time in human history, more people live within than outside of cities. This increase in urbanization transforms the landscape and disrupts the natural hydrologic cycle. Impervious surfaces, such as roads, parking lots and roofs prevent stormwater from soaking into the ground. Conventional stormwater management strategies have historically been focused on ‘end of pipe’ techniques, draining stormwater off of impervious surfaces and into drains as quickly as possible, negatively altering natural hydrologic flow regimes and increasing erosion. Impervious surfaces also degrade local surface water quality by transporting accumulated pollutants directly into surface waters, impairing their ecological integrity. Degradation of urban streams has been called the “urban stream syndrome” and has become an important area of research for stream ecologists, urban hydrologists and urban planners.
New approaches to managing urban stormwater, which have been called Low Impact Development (LID), Best Management Practices (BMPs), Water-Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) or Green Infrastructure (GI) focus on the restoration of natural hydrologic processes by capturing runoff near the source with small-scale practices. These practices and development strategies focus on source control, allowing surface runoff to infiltrate into soil and reduce pollutant loading to surface waters. It has been proposed that these practices be implemented in a distributed manner across urban landscapes, and that they be used on both privately- and publicly-owned land. They have also been proposed to be included new developments or as retrofits in previously developed areas.
Small-scale stormwater BMPs well-suited to residential areas may include both structural and nonstructural practices. Examples of structural practices can include rain barrels for runoff capture and re-use, rain gardens designed to retain and infiltrate stormwater, pervious pavers/permeable pavement options which can increase infiltration, and soil quality restoration practices designed to reduce compaction of urban soils and restore infiltration capacity. Examples of nonstructural stormwater BMPs applicable to residential landscapes include behavior changes such as reducing lawn fertilizer use and properly disposing of lawn clippings and/or pet waste.
Researchers in the UNREAL Lab work to quantify the effects of distributed urban stormwater BMPs at the residential neighborhood and city scales by monitoring stormwater runoff from select neighborhoods in Iowa as well as by modeling the hydrologic impacts of BMPs adoption. Additionally, results from social surveys of urban residential homeowners are being used to better understand the factors that affect small-scale BMP adoption on private land and to improve education and outreach efforts by conservation groups, restoration projects, and city officials.
