Urban Storm-Water Regulations—Are Impervious Area Limits a Good Idea?

Autor: Ben Urbonas, Elizabeth A. Fassman, T. Andrew Earles, Edwin E. Herricks, Jane Clary, Jonathan E. Jones
Rok vydání: 2005
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Environmental Engineering. 131:176-179
ISSN: 1943-7870
0733-9372
DOI: 10.1061/(asce)0733-9372(2005)131:2(176)
Popis: As municipalities develop new regulations to address water quality and receiving water protection, many communities are considering watershed-wide impervious area limits on new development. This editorial summarizes representative impacts of urbanization on receiving waters, provides a brief history of the use of imperviousness as an indicator, reviews some of the factors influencing water quality in addition to imperviousness, identifies some of the unintended consequences of impervious area limits, and suggests an integrated and comprehensive approach to stormwater management and regulation. The authors conclude that increased impervious area is a symptom of urbanization, not necessarily the sole cause of receiving water and overall environmental degradation. Before municipalities impose impervious area limits, comprehensive, watershed-specific receiving water and other environmental impact assessments should first be conducted. These assessments can help define the total environmental and urban infrastructure consequences and costs in order to provide at least some basis for the proposed limits on impervious areas.
Databáze: OpenAIRE