Stormwater Management Resources

  1. Hydraulic Modeling: Engineered For Florida's Booming Population 7/12/2024
    A case study on working smarter and saving resources by leveraging technology to inform project planning and management.
  2. As Climate Change Amplifies Urban Flooding, Here's How Communities Can Become 'Sponge Cities' 5/9/2024
    Across the continental U.S., intense single-day precipitation events are growing more frequent, fueled by warming air that can hold increasing levels of moisture. Most recently, areas north of Houston received 12–20" of rain in several days in early May 2024, leading to swamped roads and evacuations. Events like these have sparked interest in so-called sponge cities — a comprehensive approach to urban flood mitigation that uses innovative landscape and drainage designs to reduce and slow down runoff, while allowing certain parts of the city to flood safely during extreme weather.
  3. What Cities Everywhere Can Learn From The Houston Area's Severe Flooding As They Try To Adapt To Climate Change 5/5/2024

    Floods are complex events, and they are about more than just heavy rain. Each community has its own unique geography and climate that can exacerbate flooding. On top of those risks, extreme downpours are becoming more common as global temperatures rise.

  4. The Zen Of Stormwater Management And Land Development 5/2/2024
    Plans for land development should include a plan for stormwater as well, incorporating both natural and engineered solutions.
  5. The City Of Fayetteville's Flood Resiliency In The Face Of Climate Change: Mapping 15 Watersheds 4/9/2024

    The city of Fayetteville, North Carolina has always had flooding issues, but it’s been getting worse as weather patterns have been changing. They were hit four years in a row by storms Matthew (2016), Irma (2017), Florence (2018), and Dorian (2019). 

  6. Putting The Squeeze In Sponge Cities: Amsterdam's Waternet And The Innovative RESILIO Blue-Green Roof Project 4/8/2024

    The RESILIO project has helped Amsterdam repurpose rooftops as smart blue-green roofs to reuse rainwater and prevent localized flooding. This project, along with other sustainable water initiatives like the Amsterdam Rainproof program, continues to position the Netherlands at the forefront of water management.

  7. Testing The (Storm)Waters 3/7/2024
    Heavy rains in California prove the worthiness of the "sponge city" concept.
  8. Reducing Flood Risk In A Highly Urbanized Area 3/7/2024
    How the city of Aurora, CO, via the Fitzsimmons-Peoria Stormwater Outfall Project, modernized outdated infrastructure in response to current needs and future threats.
  9. Machine Learning And AI For Flood Mitigation — What's Really Involved? 2/29/2024
    With extreme weather events appearing to occur with greater frequency, state and local governments are scrambling to prepare for the possibilities. Properly scaled preparation can save lives — and getting a sense of that scale is where AI is helping.
  10. 2023's Billion-Dollar Disasters List Shattered The U.S. Record With 28 Big Weather And Climate Disasters Amid Earth's Hottest Year On Record 1/12/2024

    The U.S. set an unwelcome record for weather and climate disasters in 2023, with 28 disasters that exceeded more than US$1 billion in damage each. While it wasn't the most expensive year overall — the costliest years included multiple hurricane strikes — it had the highest number of billion-dollar storms, floods, droughts, and fires of any year since counting began in 1980, with six more than any other year, accounting for inflation.