Vegetable raingardens can produce food and reduce stormwater runoff

Assessing Stormwater Nutrient and Heavy Metal Plant Uptake in an Experimental Bioretention Pond

“…Landscape designers have the opportunity to contribute to the mitigation of the stormwater management problem, by incorporating these solutions in the design of residential gardens, corporate and institutional landscapes, and public green spaces, in order to combine aesthetic quality objectives with functional gains for the development of a more sustainable landscape [21].More recently [22], the term Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) has been used to define a planned network of natural and semi-natural areas that utilize natural processes to improve water quality and manage water quantity by restoring the hydrological function of the urban landscape and managing stormwater. In particular, bioretention structures are BGIs that mimic the hydrologic function of a natural landscape providing both flood control and water quality benefits [23].An experimental project was conducted in the Agripolis Campus of the University of Padova (Italy) in order to evaluate the efficiency in runoff reduction and water quality improvement of two bioretention solutions characterized by different scale and slightly different functions.One solution is a rain garden system, already investigated in other environmental conditions (e.g., [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]) but not in Italy, whose research results were recently published [37,38].The other solution is a new proposal, i.e., a bioretention pond (BP) with impervious walls to store and treat stormwater runoff as in floating treatment wetland (FTW) systems [39,40] with living ornamental plants. The BP is intended for green areas within blocks, mall centers, etc., to create a setting with aesthetic features and also able to intercept and retain stormwater runoff, reducing the peak discharge into the drainage system or main stream network, decreasing pollutants in the overflow water, and eventually working as a water reservoir for sustainable supplemental irrigation of beddings or other plant settings during drought periods.…”

“…One solution is a rain garden system, already investigated in other environmental conditions (e.g., [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]) but not in Italy, whose research results were recently published [37,38].…”

The Role of Urban Agriculture as a Nature-Based Solution: A Review for Developing a Systemic Assessment Framework

“…The majority of the studies deal with the mapping and assessing of multiple ecosystem services provided by different kinds of UPA e.g., [60][61][62]. However, some studies focus solely on one benefit, mostly on biodiversity (8 papers, e.g., [63][64][65], followed by regulating services (7 papers) mainly related to run-off mitigation [66,67], maintenance of soil quality [68,69], microclimate regulation [70], and pollination [71]. The focus of the studies dealing with ecosystem services and biodiversity is clearly on community gardens (14 papers, e.g., [60,61,72], followed by private/home food gardens (6 papers, e.g., [73][74][75] and allotment gardens (5 papers, e.g., [60,68,76]).…”

Urban Stormwater Characterization, Control, and Treatment

“…In addition to the direct water quantity and water quality impacts of bioretention, research was also conducted in 2015 to investigate broader benefits of bioretention cell implementation, including reducing toxic exposures for juvenile salmon , producing vegetables (Richards et al, 2015), and being more economically favorable through life cycle analysis (Vineyard et al, 2015). The authors note that Richards et al (2015) did not investigate potential pollutant uptake into garden vegetable tissue from stormwater pollutants, such as heavy metals, that may be available for plant uptake. These studies also document co-benefits provided by bioretention.…”