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Stormwater is liquid that results from rain, snow and other forms of precipitation. In an urban environment, we typically use the term “stormwater” in the context of surface water that aggregates on impermeable surfaces. 

Stormwater.

It just sounds kind of scary, right?

I mean, you’ve heard the term. You know it’s a problem. You understand that addressing it is of critical importance.

But unless you work in landscaping or an environmental niche, you may not understand what to do about it. As a homeowner, building manager, investor or institution, you probably feel unsure what your responsibility to the environment should take – and that’s okay.

Let’s talk about the definition of stormwater and what it means for you today.

Rooftop gardens bring more than beauty and energy to a formerly lackluster space. They also bring nature into the city, IMPROVING human health and offering valuable real estate for plants, pollinators and other wildlife.

Ever look out your office window and seen people having drinks on a rooftop garden across the way – and feel a serious urge to gatecrash their party?

Ever wish you could turn that abandoned roof space into a plant-bedecked, fairy light-strewn Eden, right in your own building?

Ever want to increase the psychosocial and physical healing times at your hospital with an elaborate green roof space, but you’re not sure how?

You, my friend, need a rooftop garden.

While sustainability and resilience should mean the same thing in urban ecological design, they too often do not – leading to misunderstandings that work against both.

The word “sustainability” conjures up everything from reusable grocery bags to solar panels to biofuel to green roofs … but how many of us actually use the word correctly in reference to any particular system?

Moreover, how many of us ensure, when we use it, that we’re actually contributing to the overall resiliency of the system in question?

We recently had a chance to speak with the inimitable Keith Bowers, president of Biohabitats and a renowned landscape architect and restoration ecologist. One of his most interesting ideas, in our humble opinion, is that resilience and sustainability should amount to the same thing, but too often they do not.

The question is, where did this divide come from, and what can we do to heal it for the sake of understanding urban ecology and creating meaningful programs to foster it in cities?

Rural stormwater management is a critical – and often under-addressed – need in our world today. Anywhere humans live, we need a smart plan for purifying water and funneling it where it needs to go. 

We should definitely celebrate the fact that stormwater management has become a better-known concept in cities across America.

* pause for champagne and party crackers *

However, the focus on cities has had one unintended side effect: In the effort to respond to urban needs, many people have forgotten the importance of rural stormwater management.

To us dark-defying humans, flipping on a light at night is as natural as eating or breathing. Unfortunately, it is incredible unnatural for many animals that rely on darkness to thrive.

It’s easy to go through daily life ignoring our surroundings, especially our external environments when we’re cozied up inside for the night.

Garage lighting? What of it? You don’t want someone to steal the basketball hoop, after all.

Office buildings lit up like Christmas trees all night long? Well, of course! We wouldn’t want miscreants to get the wrong idea – and plus, that skyline looks awfully pretty.

Problem is, the massive amount of light we put out each night is a form of pollution. In addition to obscuring a beautiful night sky, it confused birds and other animals that travel, eat or live their lives after the sun goes down. It’s seriously disruptive to our urban ecology.

We need to do something about it, and now.

Combined sewer overflow events plague many cities that rely on old infrastructure to manage both sanitation and surface runoff. It’s time we made a change.

If you’re like most, avoiding the contents of a toilet is pretty high on your list.

It might disgust you, therefore, to discover that the sewers in many large cities regularly back up and flow into the streets.

While this fact is certainly ripe for some bathroom humor, it’s actually a very serious problem. When heavy rains lead to an abundance of stormwater, some sewers can’t keep up. Current city planning incorporates stormwater management practices to prevent this from happening, but our older urban spaces have yet to hop on board.

it’s time we change that.

Urban ecological design is a critical discipline if we want to bridge the divide between city infrastructure and the natural world.

So, exactly what is urban ecological design, you’re wondering? Well, that starts with asking: What’s wrong with our cities in the first place?

You don’t need to read City Mouse, Country Mouse to understand the divide between our sparsely populated rural places and our bustling urban spaces, complete with all the conveniences of modern times.

(Although if you haven’t read that book, you should – whether or not you have children. It’s a classic, mostly because, mice with clothes.)

The problem is that too many people see cities as centers of civilization, exclusive of the environment. On the other hand, nature is an idyllic escape that simply can’t exist inside metropolitan boundaries.

Frankly, we don’t care for that way of thinking. The only way we’ll heal the environment and transform cities into healthy places to live is to meld the two. That’s where urban ecological design comes in.

Forget bindweed, crabgrass and thistle. You’ve got a bigger problem in your garden:

Gnomes.

“You’ll find them showing up in the herb garden, then in the vegetable garden, and pretty soon, in the annuals and perennials,” explains Jerry Goodspeed of Utah State University Extension’s Ogden Botanical Garden. “Once established, they’re very difficult to control.”

Of course, if you’ve ever seen those red hats popping up in your own yard, no one needs to tell you about the threat they pose. Waiting around and hoping the problem will resolve on its own is a bad idea.

“If left unchecked, they can out-compete other lawn ornaments and other parts of the landscape,” adds Goodspeed, cautioning that your urban ecology could truly suffer ill effects from such an infestation.

Luckily, he offers solutions too. We highly recommend you check out the video to learn more.

We often think of green infrastructure as a duty or burden we “should” take on, but in truth, implement GI systems leads to major cost savings for individuals and cities.

“Hmm, wouldn’t it be great if I could spend more money for fewer environmental benefits?”

… said no one ever.

But the truth is, today’s property values often suffer deeply for lack of environmental planning and management. This is true for properties of all types, from residential to commercial, condos to office parks, hospitals to schools.

That’s good news, though: It means that with proper green infrastructure planning, we can substantially increase both property values and levels of urban ecological stewardship at the same time.

So, how do we improve property values with green infrastructure? Here’s a brief overview.

The urban heat island effect is wreaking havoc on the atmosphere, damaging human health, harming ecology and more. It’s time we do something about it.

Life on Earth exists in a delicate balance with its surroundings.

Think about it: You like being dry, but not too dry. You want to be fed, but not too full. You like being warm, but not hot. That’s because humans evolved in specific environments that conditioned us to these preferential ranges.

The same is true for non-human organisms, including microbiota, plants and animals. It’s even true for the Earth as a whole. It’s just not happy when things get too hot.

Witness: climate change. (Yes, nonbelievers, it’s really a thing. NASA says so.)

One of the biggest contributors to global warming is the urban heat island effect, and it’s time we started fighting it today.

Luckily, we’ve got an array of awesome strategies (such as green roofs!) to help reduce the high temperaturs that radiate off city infrastructure. Let’s talk problems and solutions today.