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The Urban Water Center at Colorado State University
has been conducting research in urban stormwater management since
its inception in 1998 under the direction of Dr. Larry Roesner.
This webpage provides a brief introduction to urban stormwater management
and the Urban Water Center’s research in this field. |
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What
is stormwater? |
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Stormwater is water that runs off the land during
precipitation events. In urban areas, stormwater typically originates
as rainfall that lands on impervious areas such as rooftops, sidewalks
and roadways. It then runs into street gutters until it reaches
a stormwater inlet, where it is then conveyed in underground pipes
to the nearest lake or stream. |
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Why
is stormwater management important? |
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If left uncontrolled, stormwater can have detrimental
effects on the lakes and streams to which stormwater flows. Excessive
stormwater runoff flows can cause flooding and erosion and the pollutants
that are carried in stormwater can cause water quality problems.
The USEPA began regulating stormwater runoff from urbanized areas
in the 1980’s. Those regulations have spurred the development
of best management practices (BMPs) which are designed to mitigate
the effects of stormwater on receiving waters.
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What
are stormwater BMPs?
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A stormwater best management practices
(BMP) is a technique, process, activity or structure that is designed
to reduce the detrimental effects of urban stormwater runoff. Some
common BMPs that people are familiar with include street sweeping,
stormwater ponds and stormwater inlet stenciling. However, there
are many other types of BMPs being used all over the United States
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The
Urban Water Center's stormwater research
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The Urban Water Center has been involved with a variety
stormwater research projects over the past 10 years. Specific areas
of expertise include evaluating the impacts of urban stormwater
on receiving waters and determining effective BMP strategies for
mitigating those effects. A summary of past and present research
projects will soon be provided on the Projects
page. The findings of past research projects can be found on the
Thesis & Papers page.
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