Thursday, September 30, 2010

Video Blog: Stormwater, Impervious Surface, and Stream Health

Welcome Back!!

We thought that a 1-year hiatus from the blog was quite long enough. So, here's to many new updates and goodies from th IECA Great Rivers Chapter area, as well as some great stuff from across the country and beyond! Look for regular updates to the blog page, and follow us via Facebook or by using the RSS Feed feature on this page. It's good to have you back!

Up first, here's a really good video blog recently produced by USGS titled "Stormwater, Impervious Surface, and Stream Health". Urban development is associated with an increase in impervious surfaces, that is, surfaces such as rooftops, sidewalks, and streets that prevent precipitation from infiltrating into the groundwater. Impervious surfaces increase the volume and energy of stormwater that reaches streams and can lead to adverse physical and water quality impacts, including erosions and increased nutrient runoff. In this video USGS scientist Tom Cuffney and Tom Schueler, director of the Chesapeake Stormwater Network, discuss the effects of impervious surfaces on stream health.