Building Better II
A Guide to America’s Best New Development Projects
CLEAN WATER EDITION
2006
Stormwater runoff and sewage overflows
are growing threats to the health of our
water. Across the country sprawling
developments are generating huge amounts of
sewage and stormwater runoff. Land that used
to absorb rain is being paved over, creating
more runoff than treatment systems can handle.
The end result is that more untreated or poorly
treated sewage and urban runoff is polluting the
sources of our drinking water.
Fortunately, there are simple solutions that
can make a big difference. The key is to think
of stormwater as a resource, not a waste product.
By changing this perspective, we can reap a
host of benefits from recycling stormwater. This
report highlights ten outstanding projects using
innovative design to protect clean water and
recognizes developers, institutions and communities
who are leading the way toward combining
a respect for nature with development and
redevelopment.
Stormwater’s Toll on the Environment
Almost 35 years after passage of the Clean
Water Act, many of our nation’s waterways are
still polluted. When Congress enacted the law,
industrial dumping and other “point source”
contamination was the major cause of polluted
rivers, streams, lakes and bays. Today the largest
source of water pollution comes from two areas:
(1) stormwater runoff washing contaminants
into the water from parking lots and roads; and
(2) combined sewer overflows, which occur
when stormwater overwhelms the sanitary sewer
system. An explanation of both methods of
contamination follows.
Pollutant Runoff
The pollutants that wash into our waterways
during storms are an ugly toxic soup. They
range from auto-related fluids from roads and
parking lots—including oil, grease, gasoline and
hydrocarbons—to metals and other contaminants
like copper, zinc, lead, cadmium, chloride,
and nitrate. Runoff can also contain bacteria
and other pathogens, pesticides, fertilizers,
nutrients, sediment, debris, and much more.
Each of these pollutants and toxins threatens
water quality and aquatic life in their own way.
Sediment clouds the water, killing plants and
destroying habitat,1 while nutrients contribute
to algae blooms that can deplete oxygen, creating
“dead zones” in water.2 Bacteria can cause
human illness, and heavy metals and chemicals
can be harmful or deadly to both animals and
humans.3
Sewer Overflows
In many of our older urban areas, the storm drain
system and the sewer system are connected. This
normally poses little problem during dry weather,
but when rainstorms occur, runoff can overwhelm
the sewers, causing both stormwater and raw
sewage to overflow into streams and rivers without
ever receiving treatment at a sewage treatment
facility. The EPA estimates that an astounding 1.2
trillion gallons of untreated sewage combined with
stormwater and industrial waste are dumped into
our waterways each year due to combined sewer
overflows, contaminating our waters.4 According
to the EPA, sewer overflows “pose major health
concerns to the general public, and are responsible
for gastrointestinal diseases, many beach closings,
shellfishing restrictions, and limitations on other
recreational activities.”5
Development’s Role in Stormwater Runoff
Runoff is produced largely through conventional
development which creates swaths of impermeable
surfaces—roofs, roads, and parking lots that
rain falls on and drains off into waterways, picking
up trash and toxins along the way.
The volume of stormwater runoff from developed
sites is staggering. Twenty-five thousand gallons of water run off a single acre of impermeable
surface, as opposed to only 2,700 gallons
that run off an undeveloped acre during a oneinch
storm.6 With development occurring at a
rapid rate across our nation, the runoff of harmful
pollutants entering our waterways has far surpassed
acceptable levels. According to the EPA,
over 10 trillion gallons of urban stormwater
runoff flows into the nation’s rivers, streams and
other waterways each year.7
Historically, as is noted by an engineer in one
of our stories in the following pages, stormwater
has been treated as a waste product—to be disposed
of as quickly and efficiently as possible.
This approach has led to expensive projects
involving large volumes of concrete, elaborate
piping, and other mechanisms to channel runoff
—and its pollutants—from streets, parking lots
and rooftops out to our natural waterways.
However, by viewing stormwater as a resource,
not a waste product, we can create a host of benefits.
Retaining natural features and vegetation
slows and filters stormwater before it reaches
waterways. Capturing and re-using stormwater
from our roofs and other surfaces will not only
help prevent pollutants from entering waterways,
but will also conserve water, replenish groundwater
and reduce flooding. These methods of managing
stormwater are better for our environment,
and in many cases they are less expensive than
conventional approaches.
Redevelopment and Revitalization Help Water Quality
In addition to the particular stormwater management
practices outlined in these stories, communities
can continue to advocate for redevelopment
of existing urbanized areas, which reduces
the amount of sprawl and creates more opportunities
for people to live, work and shop within
walking distance. It can help reduce both impermeable
surfaces like parking lots and roads, and
the need to drive—which helps cut down on the
pollutants that get washed into streams during
wet weather. The Sierra Club has long advocated
for these approaches to development, since they
disturb less land, use less energy, promote more
walking and less driving, and produce less polluted
runoff.
Charting a Course for the Future
While vast acres of poorly planned development
continue to contribute to sprawl and polluted
stormwater runoff, many developers, institutions
and communities, are recognizing the environmental
benefits and long-term savings of easily
implemented, more natural stormwater management
practices. In the following pages, we offer
ten outstanding examples of environmentally
responsible stormwater runoff management projects,
with the hope that the leadership shown by
the proponents of these projects will becomecommonplace in communities throughout the
country in the years to come. Carried out on a
watershed-wide basis, these relatively easy-toimplement
types of projects could make a largescale,
lasting improvement in cleaning up our
polluted rivers and bays. Government agencies—
from the local and state level up to federal government—
should provide incentives for more of
these low impact development projects rather
than throwing money into ineffective methods of
stormwater management.
When citizens and local officials demand better
development projects and more environmentally
sound stormwater management practices, we
help protect our drinking water sources and
make our rivers, lakes and beaches safe for recreation
and wildlife.
1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “After the
Storm.” http://www.epa.gov/weatherchannel/
stormwater.html
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
“Combined Sewer Overflows.”
http://www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/cso/
5. Ibid.
6. Cathcart, Tom, “Impermeable Surfaces and
Stream Corridors,” Center for Sustainable Design,
Biological Engineering Department, Mississippi
State University.
http://www.abe.msstate.edu/OLD/csd/workshop_
02/nrcs_1102.html
7. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Report to
Congress: Impact and Control of CSOs and
SSOs. August 26, 2004.
http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/csossoRTC2004_ch
apter04.pdf
8. Allord, Gregory and Thomas E. Dahl. “History of
wetlands in the coterminous United States,”
National Water Summary on Wetland Resources.
U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 2425.
1996. http://water.usgs.gov/nwsum/WSP2425/history.
html
CLEAN WATER EDITION
2006
Stormwater runoff and sewage overflows
are growing threats to the health of our
water. Across the country sprawling
developments are generating huge amounts of
sewage and stormwater runoff. Land that used
to absorb rain is being paved over, creating
more runoff than treatment systems can handle.
The end result is that more untreated or poorly
treated sewage and urban runoff is polluting the
sources of our drinking water.
Fortunately, there are simple solutions that
can make a big difference. The key is to think
of stormwater as a resource, not a waste product.
By changing this perspective, we can reap a
host of benefits from recycling stormwater. This
report highlights ten outstanding projects using
innovative design to protect clean water and
recognizes developers, institutions and communities
who are leading the way toward combining
a respect for nature with development and
redevelopment.
Stormwater’s Toll on the Environment
Almost 35 years after passage of the Clean
Water Act, many of our nation’s waterways are
still polluted. When Congress enacted the law,
industrial dumping and other “point source”
contamination was the major cause of polluted
rivers, streams, lakes and bays. Today the largest
source of water pollution comes from two areas:
(1) stormwater runoff washing contaminants
into the water from parking lots and roads; and
(2) combined sewer overflows, which occur
when stormwater overwhelms the sanitary sewer
system. An explanation of both methods of
contamination follows.
Pollutant Runoff
The pollutants that wash into our waterways
during storms are an ugly toxic soup. They
range from auto-related fluids from roads and
parking lots—including oil, grease, gasoline and
hydrocarbons—to metals and other contaminants
like copper, zinc, lead, cadmium, chloride,
and nitrate. Runoff can also contain bacteria
and other pathogens, pesticides, fertilizers,
nutrients, sediment, debris, and much more.
Each of these pollutants and toxins threatens
water quality and aquatic life in their own way.
Sediment clouds the water, killing plants and
destroying habitat,1 while nutrients contribute
to algae blooms that can deplete oxygen, creating
“dead zones” in water.2 Bacteria can cause
human illness, and heavy metals and chemicals
can be harmful or deadly to both animals and
humans.3
Sewer Overflows
In many of our older urban areas, the storm drain
system and the sewer system are connected. This
normally poses little problem during dry weather,
but when rainstorms occur, runoff can overwhelm
the sewers, causing both stormwater and raw
sewage to overflow into streams and rivers without
ever receiving treatment at a sewage treatment
facility. The EPA estimates that an astounding 1.2
trillion gallons of untreated sewage combined with
stormwater and industrial waste are dumped into
our waterways each year due to combined sewer
overflows, contaminating our waters.4 According
to the EPA, sewer overflows “pose major health
concerns to the general public, and are responsible
for gastrointestinal diseases, many beach closings,
shellfishing restrictions, and limitations on other
recreational activities.”5
Development’s Role in Stormwater Runoff
Runoff is produced largely through conventional
development which creates swaths of impermeable
surfaces—roofs, roads, and parking lots that
rain falls on and drains off into waterways, picking
up trash and toxins along the way.
The volume of stormwater runoff from developed
sites is staggering. Twenty-five thousand gallons of water run off a single acre of impermeable
surface, as opposed to only 2,700 gallons
that run off an undeveloped acre during a oneinch
storm.6 With development occurring at a
rapid rate across our nation, the runoff of harmful
pollutants entering our waterways has far surpassed
acceptable levels. According to the EPA,
over 10 trillion gallons of urban stormwater
runoff flows into the nation’s rivers, streams and
other waterways each year.7
Historically, as is noted by an engineer in one
of our stories in the following pages, stormwater
has been treated as a waste product—to be disposed
of as quickly and efficiently as possible.
This approach has led to expensive projects
involving large volumes of concrete, elaborate
piping, and other mechanisms to channel runoff
—and its pollutants—from streets, parking lots
and rooftops out to our natural waterways.
However, by viewing stormwater as a resource,
not a waste product, we can create a host of benefits.
Retaining natural features and vegetation
slows and filters stormwater before it reaches
waterways. Capturing and re-using stormwater
from our roofs and other surfaces will not only
help prevent pollutants from entering waterways,
but will also conserve water, replenish groundwater
and reduce flooding. These methods of managing
stormwater are better for our environment,
and in many cases they are less expensive than
conventional approaches.
Redevelopment and Revitalization Help Water Quality
In addition to the particular stormwater management
practices outlined in these stories, communities
can continue to advocate for redevelopment
of existing urbanized areas, which reduces
the amount of sprawl and creates more opportunities
for people to live, work and shop within
walking distance. It can help reduce both impermeable
surfaces like parking lots and roads, and
the need to drive—which helps cut down on the
pollutants that get washed into streams during
wet weather. The Sierra Club has long advocated
for these approaches to development, since they
disturb less land, use less energy, promote more
walking and less driving, and produce less polluted
runoff.
Charting a Course for the Future
While vast acres of poorly planned development
continue to contribute to sprawl and polluted
stormwater runoff, many developers, institutions
and communities, are recognizing the environmental
benefits and long-term savings of easily
implemented, more natural stormwater management
practices. In the following pages, we offer
ten outstanding examples of environmentally
responsible stormwater runoff management projects,
with the hope that the leadership shown by
the proponents of these projects will becomecommonplace in communities throughout the
country in the years to come. Carried out on a
watershed-wide basis, these relatively easy-toimplement
types of projects could make a largescale,
lasting improvement in cleaning up our
polluted rivers and bays. Government agencies—
from the local and state level up to federal government—
should provide incentives for more of
these low impact development projects rather
than throwing money into ineffective methods of
stormwater management.
When citizens and local officials demand better
development projects and more environmentally
sound stormwater management practices, we
help protect our drinking water sources and
make our rivers, lakes and beaches safe for recreation
and wildlife.
1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “After the
Storm.” http://www.epa.gov/weatherchannel/
stormwater.html
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
“Combined Sewer Overflows.”
http://www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/cso/
5. Ibid.
6. Cathcart, Tom, “Impermeable Surfaces and
Stream Corridors,” Center for Sustainable Design,
Biological Engineering Department, Mississippi
State University.
http://www.abe.msstate.edu/OLD/csd/workshop_
02/nrcs_1102.html
7. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Report to
Congress: Impact and Control of CSOs and
SSOs. August 26, 2004.
http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/csossoRTC2004_ch
apter04.pdf
8. Allord, Gregory and Thomas E. Dahl. “History of
wetlands in the coterminous United States,”
National Water Summary on Wetland Resources.
U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 2425.
1996. http://water.usgs.gov/nwsum/WSP2425/history.
html