Infrastructure funding and policy priorities have a critical impact on how we grow. Decisions as to where we put water and sewer lines, roads, and schools, and how we pay for these needs play a big role in shaping our communities and the use of our natural resources.
For example, 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania research has found that conflicts between Pennsylvania’s land use and sewage facilities laws, regulations and implementation practices inhibit meaningful consistency between sewage facilities and land use planning. As a result, sewage facilities can be permitted almost anywhere, and this conflict has helped foster sprawling development patterns in southeastern Pennsylvania in the 1990s.
Saving $ - Managing Water
It’s not just our roads and bridges that are crumbling; Pennsylvania’s aging water infrastructure is in need of an estimated $20 billion in repairs and upgrades. As state and local leaders debate how to raise money for essential investments in water, sewer and stormwater systems, they also need to get smarter about how those investments are being made.
Fortunately, communities around the state are already taking steps to manage water infrastructure in more cost-effective ways. That was the main message of workshop co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute and 10,000 Friends entitled “Saving $ - Managing Water: Regional and Collaborative Approaches to Water, Sewer, and Stormwater Management in Pennsylvania.” The workshop, held in Harrisburg on May 22, convened 120 community leaders and water professionals to learn about innovative ways communities are working together to save costs and protect water resources.
Click here for a summary of the workshop’s presentations.
Water and Growth
An important step toward more efficient and effective water management is to ensure that infrastructure investments are consistent with sound land use plans. The topic is thoroughly explored in a recent report by 10,000 Friends entitled
Water and Growth: Toward a Stronger Connection Between Water Supply and Land Use in Southeastern Pennsylvania.”
Click here to download the complete report or the summary, or contact 10,000 Friends’ Harrisburg office for hard copies.
Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force
Governor Rendell has appointed a high-level task force to assess needs and develop recommendations to address Pennsylvania’s water infrastructure challenges. The Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force, whose report is due October 1, 2008, has held a series of hearings around the state to gather public input. Testimony presented by 10,000 Friends focused on the need to link infrastructure investments to land use planning and encourage inter-governmental cooperation.
Click here for a copy of 10,000 Friends’ remarks.
Water and Growth: Toward a Stronger Connection Between Water Supply and Land Use in Southeastern Pennsylvania
Water and Growth: Toward a Stronger Connection Between Water Supply and Land Use in Southeastern Pennsylvania shows that water supply infrastructure has expanded rapidly in the Philadelphia suburbs, outpacing population growth and supporting low-density development, despite substantial excess capacity in older communities. The report identifies the factors that contribute to inefficient water infrastructure investments and offers recommendations aimed at integrating land use and water resource policies. Please click here to download a summary of the report. Click here for a copy of the full report.
Center for Watershed Protection Releases Latest Manual in the Urban Subwatershed Restoration Manual Series: Urban Stormater Retrofit Practices
Until now,
no definitive guidance has been available on the art and science of urban retrofitting. The Center for Watershed Protection's new manual reflects
over two decades of Center experience in retrofitting more than 25 urban watersheds across the country.
As a country, we have degraded many of our small urban watersheds. Nearly 80% of them were developed without effective stormwater practices. The key to restoring these watersheds lies in the practice of stormwater retrofitting, which involves subwatershed detective work, storm drain forensics and imaginative design.
This manual outlines the basics of retrofits, describes the 13 unique locations where they can be found, and presents rapid methods to find, design and deliver retrofits to meet a wide range of subwatershed objectives.
The concepts of retrofitting are illustrated in more than 75 figures, 150 photos, 60 tables and nine appendices. The manual contains
- updated costs for retrofit practices,
- updated pollutant removal data for stormwater treatment options,
- a design point method to estimate individual retrofit removal rates, and
- practical tips to support the design, permitting and construction of retrofit projects.
In short, the manual provides all the resources needed to develop an effective local retrofit program. This 400+ page guidance is available as a free download on their website. A hard copy of this manual will soon be made available. Please
click here for more information and the download.
Sewage Facilities and Land Development Report
On October 24, 2005, 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with The Environmental Law Institute and the Environmental and Natural Resources Institute at Penn State University, and with support from The Heinz Endowments and The William Penn Foundation, presented a conference, “Sewage Facilities and Land Use: Collaborating for a Sustainable Future”. This conference was designed to discuss two new studies on the impacts of sewage infrastructure on land use and water quality in Pennsylvania. The conference was intended to brief government officials and other interested parties on the studies, and be a forum for discussing the costly consequences of separating infrastructure planning and implementation from land use planning in Pennsylvania communities.
Click here for more information. A summary of the 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania-sponsored report "Sewage Facilities and Land Development" is available
here.
Protecting Water Resources with Higher Density Development
The U.S. Census Bureau projects that the U.S. population will grow by 50 million people, or approximately 18 percent, between 2000 and 2020. Many communities are asking where and how they can accommodate this growth while maintaining and improving their water resources. Some communities have interpreted water-quality research to mean that low-density development will best protect water resources. To more fully explore this issue, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency modeled three scenarios of different densities at three scales -- one-acre level, lot level, and watershed level -- and at three different time series build-out examples to examine the premise that lower-density development is always better for water quality. This analysis demonstrated:
- The higher-density scenarios generate less storm water runoff per house at all scales -- one acre, lot, and watershed -- and time series build-out examples;
- For the same amount of development, higher-density development produces less runoff and less impervious cover than low-density development; and
- For a given amount of growth, lower-density development impacts more of the watershed.
Taken together, these findings indicate that low-density development may not always be the preferred strategy for protecting water resources. Higher densities may better protect water quality -- especially at the lot and watershed levels. To accommodate the same number of houses, denser developments consume less land than lower density developments. Consuming less land means creating less impervious cover in the watershed. EPA believes that increasing development densities is one strategy communities can use to minimize regional water quality impacts. To fully protect water resources, communities need to employ a wide range of land use strategies, based on local factors, including building a range of development densities, incorporating adequate open space, preserving critical ecological and buffer areas, and minimizing land disturbance. Read more about this report or find out how to order print copies
click HERE.
Budget to aid water, sewer, bridge projects, The Daily Item, July 1, 2008
"The budget deal negotiated between Gov. Ed Rendell and lawmakers includes $800 million to help municipalities complete water and sewer repairs. It also includes a provision for a November referendum in which voters will be given the chance to approve borrowing another $400 million to fix the commonwealth's crumbling infrastructure, potentially bringing the total to $1.2 billion, or about 4 percent of the state budget." For the complete article, please
click here.
State Laws Inhibit Efficient Water Infrastructure Investments, Report States
“We need to get smarter about how we’re investing our resources,” says 10,000 Friends of PA President
Harrisburg, PA (April 25, 2008) – Public water systems have expanded rapidly into new areas and supported sprawling development patterns in southeastern Pennsylvania, even though most of the overall system capacity to treat and deliver water remains unused. That is the conclusion of a report examining the relationship between water supply infrastructure and land use in five counties of southeastern Pennsylvania. The report was released today by 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania." For the complete 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania press release,
click here.
Environmental Law Institute - ELI provides information and resources through the Institute’s Sustainable Use of Land Program, which is based on the recognition that wasteful land uses -- including exurban sprawl -- result from perverse incentives in national, state, and local laws and policies. ELI’s approach to sustainable land use can be summarized as one of “smarter laws, better choices.”
Taxpayers for Common Sense - TCS’ Water Infrastructure campaign promotes smart, cost-effective measures for dealing with our water infrastructure crisis. TCS seeks the more widespread use of "smart water strategies": fiscally responsible investments in our water system that emphasize non-structural approaches and coordinated management at the watershed level. By using the growing array of smart water strategies, the United States could repair the nation's water infrastructure without breaking the bank for U.S. taxpayers.
