Really, it's the least we could do.

There has been a growing number of people realizing that sustainable stormwater design can fill another very important function: habitat creation. In many regions where open space it at a premium and the creation of green space in urban areas has become paramount, using stormwater management facilities - large and small - to provide precious habitat opportunities is making more and more sense. In fact, some would argue (us included) that it's a no-brainer.

Beyond planting with natives, maintaining naturalized stormwater facilities reduces reliance on fossil fuels, improves air quality, maximizes pollution reduction, and can provide increased infiltration. Sadly, the push back to naturalization can be fierce. Concerns that anything but closely cropped lawn will harbor threats to human health and well-being are far-ranging - we've heard it all: rats, snakes, pollen (gasp!), and perverts. Yes; perverts.

Sadly, the sterilization of our environment has led to the widespread collapse of ecosystems and left us engaged in an endless war with invasive species. Humanity’s lack of understanding that we rely on a healthy environment for our own health and well-being is quickly sending us down a slippery slope; once we lower our species diversity and richness, it won't recover in this millennium.

The least we could do is offer up our stormwater spaces to buck the trend.

sat·ire

sat·ire: noun 1 : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.

Recent Onion Headline:
"Millions Of Barrels Of Oil Safely Reach Port In Major Environmental Catastrophe"

Long-term Effects of the BP Spill

In his paper titled “The Deepwater Horizon Accident”, James Shallenberger goes into great detail about the events leading up to the BP disaster, techniques to repair or close the well and ways to minimize current the effects and anticipated environmental impacts of the spill.

While we are inundated with horrific images of oiled animals and the immediate consequences to wildlife are indeed dire, there is reason to believe that the Gulf Coast’s natural systems may rebound relatively quickly from the initial effects of the spill. Gulf of Mexico crude oil, in general, is enriched in light weight compounds that readily evaporate and dissolve in water. The initial effects of spilled crude oil on wildlife are severe because oiling physically suffocates and reduces animal mobility, interferes with body temperature regulation, and light-weight hydrocarbons are more acutely toxic than heavier weight compounds. However, weathering processes considerably and quickly reduce the toxicity of crude oil and the year-round warm climate and biologically productive environment of the Gulf region will aid in the break-down of oil (in contrast to the heavier Alaskan North Slope crude oil and colder climate associated with the Alaskan Exxon Valdez oil spill into Prince William Sound).

Typically, early life stages are more sensitive to toxic exposure than adults. The resiliency of natural systems is tied to how quickly the surviving community members can reproduce and recruit their next generations. The BP oil spill impacts will be most lasting for those populations that include long-lived organisms that reproduce slowly - like sea turtles, marine mammals, some birds - and for those with life history needs that make them unable to avoid exposure at critical periods to the persistent toxic substances found in oil spill residue, like those that live, incubate eggs, and forage within the intertidal zones of beaches and marshes.

Unfortunately, the economic and cultural effects of the oil spill may be as or more devastating, lasting, and far-reaching. The human communities of the Gulf Coast, some with unique and deep-rooted local traditions that are intimately tied to the Gulf environment, will succumb to the immediate and near-term effects of the spill - and BP may never be able to sufficiently compensate for those loses.

DRN NJ Stormwater Management Implementation Report

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) released their new report critiquing the implementation of New Jersey’s Stormwater Management Rules at municipal and state levels. Detailed reviews conducted of stormwater projects in Hamilton Township, Mercer County revealed serious shortcomings in compliance with the Rules and the report goes on to state that the DRN believes that the poor stormwater reviews in Hamilton Township are not the exception but the rule. The report provides detailed technical reviews for many of the projects to substantiate the report’s claims as well as provides a list of recommendations on how to remedy the problem.

The report implicates local, state and federal agencies as ineffectual to enforce the Clean Water Act to protect water resources and specifically sites environmental justice issues in the failure to enforce the Rules. The DRN recommendations range from the education of land use board members on the Rules to requiring true audits of the permit program by both the NJDEP and EPA.

In light of the EPA’s landmark settlement with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and co-plaintiffs with a “legally enforceable commitment that requires EPA to take specific actions by dates certain to ensure that pollution to local rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay is reduced sufficiently to remove the Bay from the federal “dirty waters” list,” this report highlights the legal responsibility of these agencies to protect water resources.

The full report can be found here: http://delawareriverkeeper.org/resources/Reports/Hamilton_Twp_NJ_SWM_Implementation_Report.pdf

Welcome

Welcome to the first post of pH’s Field Notes: Updates from the field of Natural Resource Management.

We have an awful lot of important issues on our radar these days – from Philadelphia’s new stormwater fee reallocation program to the current, rapid development of the Marcellus Shale formation for natural gas production. While some might see these two topics as disparate, we see the vital link – both have wide-ranging and lasting effects on our natural resources.

Field Notes was created to discuss the topics that people care about as presented by knowledgeable professionals. There is a lot of data on the web and it’s hard to know who to trust. Our reputation was built on our commitment to tell it like it is. Trust us to present timely topics with concise, insightful commentary so you can stop in, get hip and move on.

We look forward to starting discussions on these important topics and hope you will join us.

All of us at Princeton Hydro