Innovative Stormwater Management in Washington, DC
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Certification Maintenance
What You'll Learn
- How best to use green infrastructure to manage stormwater runoff
- How to implement a stormwater retention credit trading program
- Alternative master planning methods that include stormwater earlier in the design process
- Portfolio management techniques to capture and revise repair projects early in the planning process
- Why tackling stormwater challenges from multiple scales and of collaborating with multiple stakeholders can result in a better region-wide outcome
More Course Details
Like many urban areas, the National Capital Region struggles to manage its stormwater runoff. Large expanses of impermeable landscapes and undersized stormwater sewers result in interior drainage flooding and combined sewer overflows into the Potomac River. Recent regional climate models project that precipitation from intense storms will become more frequent and severe: today's 100-year storm will be more like a 15-year storm in the 2080s.
How best to address this challenge? Local and federal agencies responded with unique and innovative approaches. DC Water combated combined sewer overflows by installing a combination of green and gray infrastructure. The District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment implemented a stormwater retention credit trading program that incentivizes developers to go beyond regulatory obligations and capture additional stormwater. The federal General Services Administration revised its project management approach for new and renovated buildings, and now examines potential stormwater issues earlier in the design and master planning process.
This session will examine these innovative approaches to stormwater management, discuss the importance of collaboration, and emphasize the need to attack stormwater challenges from multiple approaches and stakeholders.