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: Regional and collaborative approaches to water, sewer, and stormwater management in Pennsylvania.
When: Thursday, May 22, 2008
Where: Hilton Harrisburg Hotel, Harrisburg, PA
A one-day conference for elected officials, authority managers, watershed organizations, planners and engineers, and citizens interested in new and innovative ideas for regional and collaborative water resource management.
Please
click here to register online or to learn more about the conference. Please note that the registration deadline is
May 12, 2008.
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.
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.
