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Green Infrastructure

Green Infrastructure and Urban Stormwater Impacts

Stream bank with ducksLarge areas of connected impervious cover and changes in land use dramatically increase the volume and rate of stormwater discharges—leading to increased pollutant delivery, flooding, and erosion as well as decreased groundwater recharge. These publications document the impacts of urban stormwater on aquatic ecosystems and human health and build the case for incorporating green infrastructure into our cities and suburbs.

Ahn, J. H., S. B. Grant, C. Surbeck, P. DiGiacomo, N. Nezlin, and S. Jiang. 2005. Coastal water quality impact of stormwater runoff from an urban watershed in southern California. Environmental Science & Technology 39:5940-5953.

Beach, D. 2001. Coastal Sprawl: The Effects of Urban Design on Aquatic Ecosystems in the United States (PDF). (40 pp, 1.6MB,). Pew Oceans Commission, Arlington, VA.

Bernhardt, E.S., M. Palmer, J. Allan, G. Alexander, K. Barnas, S. Brooks, J. Carr, S. Clayton, C. Dahm, J. Follstad-Shah, D. Galat, S. Gloss, P. Goodwin, D. Hart, B. Hassett, R. Jenkinson, S. Katz, G. Kondolf, P. Lake, R. Lave, J. Meyer, T. O’Donnell, L. Pagano, B. Powell, and E. Sudduth. 2005. Synthesizing U.S. river restoration efforts (PDF)(13 pp, 4.1 MB, About PDF) Exit. Science 308:636–637.

Brody, S., S. Zahran, P. Maghelal, H. Grover, and W. Highfield et al. 2007. The Rising costs of floods: Examining the impact of development decisions on property damage in Florida (PDF). (16 pp, 247K). Journal of the American Planning Association 73(3):330–345.

Gaffield, S. J., R. L. Goo, L. A. Richards, and R. J. Jackson. 2003. Public health effects of inadequately managed stormwater runoff. American Journal of Public Health 93(9):1527–1533.

Konrad, C .P. 2003. Effects of Urban Development on Floods (PDF)(4 pp, 124 K, About PDF). U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-076-03.

National Research Council. 2008. Urban Stormwater Management in the United States Exit. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC.

Rose, S. 2007. The effects of urbanization on the hydrochemistry of base flow within the Chattahoochee River Basin (Georgia, USA) Exit. Journal of Hydrology 341:42–54.

U.S. EPA. (2010). Causal Analysis / Diagnosis Decision Information System Volume 2: Source Module for Urbanization. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.

Walsh, C. J., A. Roy, J. W. Feminella, P. D. Cottingham, P. M. Groffman, and R. P. Morgan. 2005. The Urban Stream Syndrome: Current knowledge and the search for a cure (PDF)(18 pp, 640 K, About PDFExitJournal of the North American Benthological Society 24(3):706–723.