Erosion's Solutions

The purpose of the Wetlands & Watersheds Article Series is to expand the Center’s current watershed protection guidance, tools, and resources to provide guidance to local communities on how to integrate wetlands into larger watershed protection efforts. Center for Watershed Protection

This Urban Stormwater BMP Performance Tool has been developed to provide stormwater professionals with easy access to approximately 220 studies assessing the performance of over 275 BMPs. Additional studies will be added to this collection periodically. This Tool presents information previously compiled by the International Stormwater BMP Database Exit EPA Site and by the State of California in an easy to use search and sort format. In the future, EPA hopes to add more studies to this collection, particularly ones that evaluate the performance of "green infrastructure" or "low impact development" BMPs. Choosing effective stormwater BMPs is one of the key challenges facing anyone interested in improving or protecting the quality of our rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. Having access to studies of BMP performance that have been conducted by public agencies, academic researchers, non-profit groups, and others will help make better decisions. This tool provides access...

GLOBAL WARMING: Spiraling costs to move imperiled coastal communities pit needs against limited resources. By BETH BRAGG bbragg@adn.com Published: October 22, 2007 Last Modified: October 22, 2007 at 01:23 PM The cost of relocating villages that face extinction in the next decade or so -- sooner if the wrong storm hits the wrong place at the wrong time -- is staggering. Even by Alaska standards. Click to enlarge Click to enlarge • Moving Newtok, a Bering Sea coast town of 315 being squished and swamped by two rivers, could cost as much as $130 million. Or $412,000 per person. • Moving Shishmaref, a strip of sand in the Chukchi Sea that's home to about 600 people, could cost as much as $200 million. Or $330,000 per person. • Moving Kivalina, a shrinking barrier island in the Chukchi that last month saw most of its 380 residents run for safety from the season's first storm, could cost as much as $125 million. Or $330,000 per person. Meanwhile, millions more are needed to protect p...

Vegetation along rivers and streams, called riparian vegetation, plays an important part in maintaining and improving the quality of our rivers and streams. The type, density and width of riparian vegetation provide a crucial link between terrestrial and stream ecosystems. Native vegetation along the streambank provides food and shelter, while also providing a corridor for the movement of wildlife. Riparian vegetation provides vegetable matter, which breaks down and provides food for aquatic invertebrates. Shade from riparian vegetation helps maintain cool water temperatures in pools. In addition, fallen branches, large woody debris and aquatic plants provide habitat for fish and invertebrates. Riparian vegetation is important in the prevention of stream bank erosion. Vegetation binds soil and and creates a “roughness” that reduces stream flow rates, particularly during floods. Vegetation at the base of riverbanks is especially important to riverbank stability, particularly on outside ...

Get practical, comprehensive information on watershed restoration techniques with the Center’s Urban Subwatershed Restoration Manual series. Together, the USRM manuals introduce an integrated framework for urban watershed restoration, outline effective techniques for assessing urban watersheds, and provide a comprehensive review of watershed restoration techniques. Center for Watershed Protection to order/view

Stormwater is rain and snow melt that runs off surfaces such as rooftops, paved streets, highways, and parking lots. Stormwater carries sediment, oil, grease, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other pollutants into storm drains and then, untreated, into nearby waterbodies. Because most stormwater drainage systems provide no treatment, preventing contamination of stormwater is crucial to ensure that pollutants do not enter waterways. Improperly managed stormwater runoff is also a leading cause of flooding, which can lead to property damage, cause road safety hazards, and clog catch basins and culverts with sediment and debris. The federal Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Endangered Species Act direct the City to improve stormwater quality and protect watersheds, rivers, streams and drinking water resources. The Bureau of Environmental Services coordinates the citywide response to the federal stormwater permit that requires the City to reduce stormwater pollution, and oversees othe...

A cleansing rain? For Puget Sound, a downpour is polluting. There could hardly have been better timing for a new report on the huge problems for the Sound caused by runoff from streets, roofs and the land. The runoff carries most of the worst pollutants plaguing Puget Sound. The study, released Friday, is the start of attempts to systematically assess the sources of pollution that threaten the Sound's ecosystems for orcas, fish and people. It found that lands developed for residential, commercial and industrial use contribute to the bulk of lead, cadmium, oil and some other prime pollutants. The report said, "Developed lands contributed the majority of several toxic chemicals to Puget Sound (i.e., cadmium, lead, zinc, nonylphenol, and oil and petroleum products)." But agricultural and forest lands also create problems. Air pollution also contributes some of the toxics. Protecting Inland Waters