Stormwater Control Measures for Runoff and Water Quality Management in Urban Landscapes

This study develops and tests a novel optimization method for optimally selecting and sizing stormwater control measures (SCMs) in urban landscapes for selected design storms. The developed methodology yields SCMs that capture and retain stormwater via onsite percolation, remove stormwater pollutants, and minimize stormwater control expenditures. The resulting environmental optimization problem involves integer and real variables imbedded in an objective function that is subjected to multiple constraints. This study's methodology aims at practicality and ease of implementation in the solution of the SCM sizing and selection optimization problem while taking into account the main factors that govern stormwater management in urban landscapes. The near‐optimal global solution of the SCM selection and design problem is obtained with nonlinear programming and verified with the average of multiple solutions calculated with multiple runs of an optimization evolutionary algorithm. The developed methodology is illustrated with one stormwater project in the City of Los Angeles, California.     

城市生态恢复规划的国外优秀案例借鉴

通过美国金郡的湿地恢复经验、普吉特海湾的雨水管理系统以及加拿大汤姆逊公园废弃地恢复规划案例借鉴国外城市生态恢复规划的重点环境生态策略、措施与后续维护方法、管理等,以国外经验启示我国生态恢复工作中应关注的重点。     

前期晴天时间对城市降雨径流污染水质的影响

识别影响城市降雨径流污染的主要因子是城市降雨径流污染治理和管理的前提和基础.为此,从2006年5月开始,选择镇江具有代表性的土地使用类型监测城市地表径流水质,分析前期晴天时间对城市地表降雨径污染物的影响.结果表明,随着前期晴天时间的增加,径流中粒径<40 μm的颗粒物粒径体积分数增加;径流中主要水质参数(TN、TP、Zn、Pb、Cu、TSS和COD)与前期晴天时间呈显著正相关,初期地表径流中溶解态污染物增加,说明前期晴天时间是影响城市径流污染浓度和形态的主要因子,从而为城市降雨径流污染的控制和治理提供科学依据.     

Total pollution effect of urban surface runoff

For pollution research with regard to urban surface runo , most sampling strategies to date have focused on di erences in land usage. With single land-use sampling, total surface runo pollution e ect cannot be evaluated unless every land usage spot is monitored. Through a new sampling strategy known as mixed stormwater sampling for a street community at discharge outlet adjacent to river, this study assessed the total urban surface runo pollution e ect caused by a variety of land uses and the pollutants washed o from the rain pipe system in the Futian River watershed in Shenzhen City of China. The water quality monitoring indices were COD (chemical oxygen demand), TSS (total suspend solid), TP (total phosphorus), TN (total nitrogen) and BOD (biochemical oxygen demand). The sums of total pollution loads discharged into the river for the four indices of COD, TSS, TN, and TP over all seven rainfall events were very di erent. The mathematical model for simulating total pollution loads was established from discharge outlet mixed stormwater sampling of total pollution loads on the basis of four parameters: rainfall intensity, total land area, impervious land area, and pervious land area. In order to treat surface runo pollution, the values of MFF30 (mass first flush ratio) and FF30 (first 30% of runo volume) can be considered as split-flow control criteria to obtain more e ective and economical design of structural BMPs (best management practices) facilities.     

More than money: how multiple factors influence householder participation in at-source stormwater management

Urban stormwater run-off is a threat to stream ecosystems. New approaches to stormwater management aim to protect urban streams from such impacts, by retaining, treating and using stormwater at its source. As up to ～50% of runoff from urban surfaces comes from private property, fostering stormwater retention requires effective householder engagement. We evaluated householder participation in the Little Stringybark Creek project, a stormwater retrofit programme aimed at waterway protection, using qualitative enquiry through formal and informal interviews to identify factors that influenced participation. Participation was governed by multiple factors, with financial incentives and personal co-benefits of tanks primary motivators, while process complexity and distrust were primary barriers. Results suggest an approach combining education to encourage review of subjective norms and attitudes, with incentives to mitigate behavioural controls can transform public behaviour towards sustainable stormwater management.     

Governing green stormwater infrastructure: the Philadelphia experience

Many cities throughout the world are adopting green infrastructure techniques to reduce stormwater and sewer overflows into waterways, which is particularly problematic for places experiencing more frequent and severe rain events. Governance of green stormwater implementation is proving to be as important as the techniques themselves. Building on the climate and sustainability governance literature, we argue that effective governance requires planning across city departments, experimentation and a strategy for organisational learning. We employ a case study of Philadelphia, the first city in the United States to attempt an entirely green approach to meeting federal regulations to examine issues of governance that emerged and how they were addressed. The case study draws on interviews with fourteen public and private sector actors involved in implementation, a site visit to observe the installations and to discuss the approach with a key planner, and grey literature. We find that silos can be broken down and that if open communications and a willingness to change practices are present, obstacles cited in the literature can be overcome. The key implication is that the three elements of governance need to be built into the green infrastructure planning process. While the analysis focuses on a US city, the departments involved and the governance needs of green stormwater infrastructure are similar in cities in much of the world.     

Full Water‐Cycle Monitoring in an Urban Catchment Reveals Unexpected Water Transfers (Detroit MI,USA)

A goal in urban water management is to reduce the volume of stormwater runoff in urban systems and the effect of combined sewer overflows into receiving waters. Effective management of stormwater runoff in urban systems requires an accounting of various components of the urban water balance. To that end, precipitation, evapotranspiration (ET), sewer flow, and groundwater in a 3.40‐hectare sewershed in Detroit, Michigan were monitored to capture the response of the sewershed to stormwater flow prior to implementation of stormwater control measures. Monitoring results indicate that stormflow in sewers was not initiated unless rain depth was 3.6 mm or greater. ET removed more than 40% of the precipitation in the sewershed, whereas pipe flow accounted for 19%–85% of the losses. Flows within the sewer that could not be associated with direct precipitation indicate an unexpected exchange of water between the leaky sewer and the groundwater system, pathways through abandoned or failing residential infrastructure, or a combination of both. Groundwater data indicate that groundwater flows into the leaky combined sewer rather than out. This research demonstrates that urban hydrologic fluxes can modulate the local water cycle in complex ways which affect the efficiency of the wastewater system, effectiveness of stormwater management, and, ultimately, public health.     

不同地表雨水径流冲刷特性分析

选择北京市某城区典型地表(校园、自行车道、商业街和高架桥)的雨水径流作为研究对象,系统分析了不同地表雨水径流的冲刷特性。分析结果表明:不同地表初期冲刷现象都比较明显,控制不同地表20%的初期雨水可以削减污染物总量的40%～60%,高架桥初期雨水径流中COD、SS和TP浓度最高,校园初期雨水径流中TN浓度最高。不同地表雨水径流的水质优劣顺序为:校园>商业街>自行车道>高架桥。校园和自行车道在整个降雨过程中D50和D90粒径大小相近,分别为30μm和50μm左右,且变化幅度都较小。高架桥和商业街在雨水径流初期D50和D90粒径有明显减小,但后期均出现较大幅度的波动,其粒径明显大于校园和自行车道。上述研究成果对于城市不同地表雨水径流污染控制和场地开发具有重要意义。     

The U.S. Flood Control Program at 75: Environmental Issues1

Black, Peter E., 2012. The U.S. Flood Control Program at 75: Environmental Issues. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(2): 244‐255. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00609.x Abstract: Recent, recurring, and increased magnitude floods adversely challenge long‐held and erroneous concepts of flood control. This article focuses on the environmental issues with comprehensively reviewed essentials of the United States (U.S.) riverine Flood Control Program, including news reports, scientific articles, books, and landmark treatises. For the past three‐quarters of a century, U.S. floods have continued (and will continue) to occur, causing increasing property damage with growing fiscal loss. Reasons include inattention to fundamental principles of physics, hydrology, and ecology. There are also important challenges involving environmental policy, economics, and common sense. Measures afforded by the existing program encourage and enable investment in floodplains while violating a variety of natural principles that make the situation worse. This detailed review includes the questionable (actually untrue) justification in the document‐setting policy for the 1936 Omnibus Flood Control Act. The well‐documented evidence is overwhelming. An alternative approach is presented that would enable and celebrate natural floods, managing their ecological and hydrological values, and not attempting to control them.     

土壤渗滤介质系统去除雨水径流污染物

利用昆明当地的土壤在室内填装一个土柱渗滤系统,使用配水浓度模拟昆明市区雨水径流污染物浓度,进行去除雨水径流污染物的实验研究,考察系统对COD、TN、NH4＋、NO3^-、NO2^-和TP的去除效果。实验结果表明,该土壤渗滤系统对COD平均去除率为82．04％,对TN的平均去除率为22．64％,对NH;平均去除率为94．26％,但是对NO3^-、NO2^-去除效果较差,对TP平均去除率为96．95％;另外,系统长期运行导致下渗速度降低,出水效果反而变好。