Developing a framework for stormwater management: leveraging ancillary benefits from urban greenspace

Abstract

Managing stormwater and wastewater has been a priority for cities for millennia, but has become increasingly complicated as urban areas grow and develop. Since the mid-1800s, cites often relied on an integrated system of underground pipes, pumps, and other built infrastructure (termed gray infrastructure) to convey stormwater away from developed areas. Unfortunately, this gray infrastructure is aging and often exceeds its designed capacity. In an effort to alleviate issues related to excess stormwater, many urban areas across the United States are interested in using green infrastructure as a stopgap or supplement to inadequate gray infrastructure. Green infrastructure and other greenspace promote interception and/or infiltration of stormwater by using the natural hydrologic properties of soil and vegetation. Furthermore, there are numerous ancillary benefits, in addition to stormwater benefits, that make the use of greenspace desirable. Collectively, these ecosystem services can benefit multiple aspects of a community by providing benefits in a targeted manner. In this paper, we present a framework for balancing stormwater management against ancillary benefits of urban greenspace. The framework is structured around the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment ecosystem service categories: provisioning, cultural, regulatory, and supporting services. The purpose is to help communities better manage their systems by 1) allowing stakeholders to prioritize and address their needs and concerns within a community, and 2) maximize the ecosystem service benefits received from urban greenspace.

High water retention in urban garden soils leads to reduced leachate and elevated evapotranspiration

“…Greenspaces including rain gardens, turfgrass, and tree canopies provide essential hydrological services by increasing stormwater in ltration and retention in urban ecosystems (Zhang et al 2015;Hoover and Hopton 2019). Our results suggest that urban gardens may function in a similar manner to engineered green stormwater infrastructure, with a high capacity for water retention, in ltration, and ET.…”

Green infrastructure: systematic literature review

“…The second category is the residential environment disciplines such as Urban Studies, Regional&Urban Planning, etc., and the definition of green infrastructure from the perspective of serving the needs of human settlements (De la Barrera et al, 2016;Parker & Simpson, 2018;Venkataramanan et al, 2019). The third type focuses on municipal Engineering disciplines such as Engineering, Water Resources and Architecture, and defines green infrastructure from the perspective of greening municipal Engineering facilities (Hoover & Hopton, 2019;Venkataramanan et al, 2020) (Table 4).…”

Phase II MS4 challenges: moving toward effective stormwater management for small municipalities

“…Stormwater infrastructure across the US is rapidly aging past its intended lifespan (Keeley et al 2013;Hoover and Hopton 2019;Vineyard et al 2015;Meng and Hsu 2019). In a stark example, Hoard et al (2020) were investigating the hydrology of an abandoned residential area in Detroit in anticipation of BMP installation when they detailed what they described as "urban karst": a patchwork of crumbling drainage pipes, leaking water pipes, and failing building foundations, leading to complex, sometimes horizontal, stormwater flow combined with flow from other sources (e.g., leaking water pipes).…”

“…Meeting stakeholder aesthetic and cultural preferences for BMPs and urban landscape design as part of programs to maintain diverse ecosystem services can lead local communities to see stormwater systems as providing tangible local benefits (Miller and Montalto 2019;Darnthamrongkul and Mozingo 2020;William et al 2020). Achieving this benefit requires managers to include communities in decision-making processes and can help create resilient and effective programs with local social and ecological co-benefits (BenDor et al 2018;Hoover and Hopton 2019;Miller and Montalto 2019). Increased property values resulting from effective BMP implementation and landscape design (including green infrastructure) can benefit property owners and municipalities through increased tax revenue (Ward et al 2008;Odefey et al 2012;Mazzotta et al 2014).…”