Latest Impervious surface Stories
LANHAM, Md., Oct. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When the storm of the century deluged west central Oregon last winter causing millions of dollars of flood damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure, one area that was conspicuously untouched was a high-profile environmental community with a unique stormwater control system. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121015/DC92447-a) (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121015/DC92447-b) Pringle Creek in Salem,...
Tree cover in the nation’s Lower 48 states covers 659 million acres, more than one-third of the nation, according to a U.S. Forest Service study of national tree cover and impervious surfaces. New Hampshire leads the nation in percent tree cover (89 percent), followed by Maine (83 percent) and Vermont (82 percent). On the other end of the spectrum, North Dakota has the lowest percent tree cover (3 percent), followed by Nebraska (4 percent) and South Dakota (6 percent). Using aerial...
NASA researchers studying urban landscapes have found that the intensity of the "heat island" created by a city depends on the ecosystem it replaced and on the regional climate. Urban areas developed in arid and semi-arid regions show far less heating compared with the surrounding countryside than cities built amid forested and temperate climates."The placement and structure of cities "“ and what was there before -- really does matter," said Marc Imhoff, biologist and...
Paved parking lots and driveways make our lives easier, but they often create an easy pathway for pollutants to reach underground water sources and alter the natural flow of water back into the ground. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced a study that will investigate ways to reduce pollution that can run off paved surfaces and improve how water filters back into the ground. EPA is testing a variety of different permeable pavement materials and rain gardens in the parking...
By Sam Taylor, The Bellingham Herald, Wash. Jul. 9--a new tax on property owners between Birch Bay and Ferndale is closer to reality after a Whatcom County Council committee Monday called for a public hearing on the issue. Council members are being asked to create a new fee for property owners in the Birch Bay watershed to help protect the water quality of Birch Bay. The Birch Bay Watershed and Resources Management District, created in 2007, stretches southeast from Semiahmoo Spit toward...
By Jeremy Hsieh, The Beaufort Gazette, S.C. Jul. 1--Nitrogen gas makes up about three-fourths of the air we breathe, but when it's bound in certain soluble compounds and carried into our waterways, it can cause ecologically disruptive algae blooms and fish kills. Under a proposed update of Beaufort County's stormwater management manual of best practices, nitrogen pollutants would be folded into exiting stormwater regulations, potentially forcing developers to drastically reduce the amount...
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - From suburban driveways to the sprawling lots that spring up around big retailers, Americans devote lots of space to parking spaces "“ a growing land-use trend that plays a role in heating up urban areas and adding to water pollution, according to a recent study. Purdue University researchers surveyed the total area devoted to parking in a midsize Midwestern county and found that parking spaces outnumbered resident drivers 3-to-1 and outnumbered resident families...
