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How smart growth protects watersheds, and how green infrastructure can make it even better

Posted by: Maven on March 21, 2009 at 5:51 am

From the NRDC’s Switchboard blog, a post by Kaid Benfield, Director of the Smart Growth Program:

I am not an expert on water quality, but I have learned a lot about the subject over the last few years. My tutors have been my NRDC colleagues, my colleagues on the LEED-ND core committee, and the amazing folks at EPA’s smart growth office.

Stormwater management is not a straightforward issue in my field, because water advocates typically want to maximize natural systems in a watershed, while we smart growth advocates want to maximize urban development in the places where we do choose to develop. The hard part is that both of us are right. The good news, though, is that the two environmental goals actually can be quite complementary.

One of the keys, as I’ve written before, is to stop thinking of watershed protection issues on a per-acre, or site-by-site, basis and start thinking of them on a per-capita, or whole-watershed basis. The latter produces eye-opening results.

An interesting post about smart growth and minimizing urban runoff, with lots of pictures and examples. Read more about it at the NRDC Switchboard blog by clicking here.

March 21, 2009 · Filed Under Flood Control/Stormwater

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