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Stormwater is not something new. It has been around as long as storms
have been around. It is just that nature can more effectively deal with
natural flows than those flows which are altered by the increased amount
of impervious surfaces that come with growth and development.
Wikipedia provides some definitions that help understand the overall
process of stormwater management and why it is important:
Understanding Stormwater: These links provide general information about
the actions and repercussion of Stormwater Management. It does not take
much effort to realize that doing NOTHING will allow the problem to continue
to worsen. Doing something may be good or bad depending upon what is done.
Doing the RIGHT thing will not eliminate stormwater issues but it will
help to reduce the negative affects of stormwater thus protecting our
environment, property values, and lives.
- Impermeable
Surfaces and Stream Corridors, Tom Cathcart, Center for Sustainable
Design, Biological Engineering Department, Mississippi State University
- Partnershipsfor Change Sustainable Communities' site discussing:
Impervious Surfaces
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Citizen
Guides, Stormwater
- American Public health Association: American Journal of Public Health
2003 September; 93(9): 1527-1533. Public
Health Effects of Inadequately Managed Stormwater Runoff
- United States Environmental Protection Agency: After
the Storm
- United States Geological Survey: Water
Science for Schools: Impervious Surfaces and Flooding
- Storm
Water Runoff: Effects of Changes in Impervious Surfaces, Tahmina
Shirmeen & Greg Easson, Dept. of Geology and Geological Engineering,
The University of Mississippi.
- MIT Libraries: Understanding
Urban Assets: Using Remote Sensing to Manage Stormwater Run-off
- Lower Columbia
River Field Guide to Water Quality Friendly Development
- Environmental Health Perspectives: Paving
Paradise: The Peril of Impervious Surfaces
- United States Geological Survey: Determining
the Components of Impervious Surfaces in Urban Watersheds
- Oregon Environmental Council: Chapter
1: Impacts of Urban Stormwater Runoff
- Water Laws: Water Resources law, Policy, and Commentary: Interview
Tom Scheuler, Executive Director of the Center for Watershed Protection
- Hillsdale County, Michigan, Community Center, Land Use Planning
Information: Impervious
Surfaces
- The
North Carolina Coastal Stormwater Rule
- Stormwater
Effects handbook: A Toolbox for Watershed Managers, Scientists, and
Engineers
- Reducing the Impacts
of Urban Runoff with Alternative Site Design Approaches: From
Northeast Illinois Planning Commission site
- North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources:
Stormwater & Runoff Polution: Pollute Your Water, Pollute Yourself
- Improved
Stormwater Management from Northeast Illinois Planning Commission
- The
Power Effect of Stormwater Run-off from Impervious Surfaces
There are a lot of graphic presentations available on the internet that
provide some good examples of some of the problems related with stormwater.
Resources specific to Virginia:
- Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR), Soil
& Water Conservation Section: Erosion
and Sediment Control Handbook
- Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR), Soil
& Water Conservation Section: Virginia
Stormwater Management Program
- Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR), Soil
& Water Conservation Section: DCR's
Soil and Water Conservation Offices: Regional Offices
- Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR), Soil
& Water Conservation Section: Publications
and/or Downloads. You can obtain the full Virginia Stormwater
Management Handbook, volumes 1 and 2 here.
- Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR), DCR's
Stormwater Management Enforcement Manual
- Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation(DCR), DCR's
Virginia Stormwater Management Law
- Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation(DCR), DCR's
Virginia Stormwater Management Regulations
- Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation(DCR), DCR's
Stormwater Management local model ordinance (2001)
- Fairfax County Virginia: Stormwater
Education page on the internet.
- Town of Christiansburg, Virginia: Stormwater
Education page on the internet.
What can be done? A lot of things! May of the sources found on this page
give information for individuals and local governments as to some of the
things that can be done to reduce the damages caused by stormwater and
to minimize pollution. Ultimately, it falls upon government, planners,
developers, and individuals to all take part in the process. Learning
about the issues and options is a good place to begin.
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CALENDAR of EVENTS
Important Information from Virginia Coalition for Open Government.
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