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Does anyone here live in a city that is using rain gardens, or bioretention cells for stormwater management?
I'm working on a paper for an environmental grad. class and did it on the effectiveness of rain gardens. I wanted to know if they really are reducing:
- peak flows
- nutrients
- sediment
- other pollutants
There really isn't a lot of peer reviewed research out there specifically on how effective rain gardens reduce peak flows and non-point source pollutants, but there are a few. There is plenty of hydrological research, but I wanted to see a quantification in the reduction of pollutant load, especially nutrients. The research I've reveiwed showed results with significant reductions in pollutant loads. Phosphorus wasn't a signficantly reduced, but the rain gardens are still effective.
I live in Tulsa, OK and the city is not using bioretention cells or rain gardens in their stormwater management program. Some people have been putting them in at their residences, but on a city wide scale it isn't happening in Tulsa.
Portland, OR, on the other hand, has gone gangbuster with them. The PNW isn't the only game in town, though. WI, KY and other places have used this method. It seems like it would be a great way to meet landscaping codes for new businesses and to reduce non-point runoff.
Here are a couple of pictures:
This is one that's in Victoria, BC
This one is in Portland, OR
If this interests you, I love the Portland, OR website on their sustainable stormwater management. There are many other sites, but the Portland site is a great resource.
When I lived in tuscaloosa, al I interned with the city planning department, recently renamed development services. They have just initiated a new landscape ordinance that applies to all new building permits. It requires a bioswale to reduce non-point source pollution, but it only applies to commercial properties. I think rain gardens are a very simple way to reduce water pollution. They are just outside of the main stream though, so developers aren't very likely to voluntarily install them in the vast majority of us markets
South Florida has tons of retention areas for heavy rainfall. Most are grassed, and designed to dry out fairly fast, because mosquitoes would otherwise be a problem. The grass carp in the canals keep much of the results of fertilizer pollution in check.
South Florida has tons of retention areas for heavy rainfall. Most are grassed, and designed to dry out fairly fast, because mosquitoes would otherwise be a problem. The grass carp in the canals keep much of the results of fertilizer pollution in check.
And the gators keep the grass carp and joggers in check.
We just officially dedicated our new Town Hall. The back half of the roof is a planted "green roof". We had to do that to meet MD's new stormwater regulations. I'll let you know in a few months how it's working. I was up on it yesterday and it's really a cool set-up.
Does anyone here live in a city that is using rain gardens, or bioretention cells for stormwater management?
Yes to all those questions. We manage a ton of BMP's and report their performance to the state. We also have an agreement with two major universities where we test the effectiveness of various BMP's.
I will look for some data and if I can find some I will forward it to you.
South Florida has tons of retention areas for heavy rainfall. Most are grassed, and designed to dry out fairly fast, because mosquitoes would otherwise be a problem. The grass carp in the canals keep much of the results of fertilizer pollution in check.
One of the peer reviewed papers I read was Bettie Rush's research on a unique and innovative parking lot design at the FL aquarium. Her research focused on how different parking lot surfaces affected the results of reducing pollutant load and peak load. She looked at asphalt, concrete, and a porous surface all with grassy swales for bioretention, and then an asphalt surface with no grassy swales.
All performed well at reducing peak flow, and at reducing nutrient load and metals, but the porus surface had the best results. Concrete reduced NP pollutants better than asphalt.
Yes to all those questions. We manage a ton of BMP's and report their performance to the state. We also have an agreement with two major universities where we test the effectiveness of various BMP's.
I will look for some data and if I can find some I will forward it to you.
Yes, please do. I've done stream monitoring on my job for a long time, but I've taken a huge interest in the performance of the rain gardens/bioretention BMPs for stormwater. I just started a M.S. in Env. Science and I seem to always gravitate back to water. I wasn't certain which area I would make my focus, but once I did this little research I realized water really what gets me the most passionate.
We just officially dedicated our new Town Hall. The back half of the roof is a planted "green roof". We had to do that to meet MD's new stormwater regulations. I'll let you know in a few months how it's working. I was up on it yesterday and it's really a cool set-up.
Very cool. I got to see a few of the green roofs in Chicago about five years ago. If you take any pictures of you guys' project you should post them!
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