Did you know that The Watershed Institute offers informative webinars throughout the year that are geared toward people who have a background in water quality, engineering, or law. Topics include water treatment, chemicals in water, and environmental legislation. While these classes are technical, they are open to anyone who is interested in attending. Upcoming sessions will be listed below and can also be found on our calendar. If you have any questions, please contact Pri Oliveira at [email protected].
‘DAYLIGHTING’ STREAMS: Design & Engineering
Date: October 4, 2024 at noon
Place: Virtual on Zoom
Cost: $50,
Credits Available:
- Engineers: 1.25 PE credits
- Planners: 1.25 AICP CM credits
- Landscape Architects (ASLA) can self-report
Watershed restorative practices include the ‘daylighting’ of streams. In the past, streams have been ‘buried’ or put into underground pipes or culverts to repurpose the land for other uses. The land that replaces the stream is often covered with impervious material. Because these streams are constricted into infrastructure that has limited capacity and can no longer accommodate the frequency and intensity of storm events, we need to consider ‘daylighting’ them.
The locations for these projects include industrial cities, college campuses, small towns and historic towns. They range in scale from neighborhood interventions to city scale projects. The benefits of ‘daylighting’ include water quality improvements, reduction of flooding, the creation of community green space and restoring our ‘blue ways.’ Since streams are the foundations for both flora and fauna, the restoration of lost biodiversity is an important benefit.
Daylighting streams is an often-overlooked approach in watershed restoration. The benefits (for humans and nature) of a riparian stream corridor are exponentially greater than a parking lot or a basketball court. Since exposure to natural systems is extremely positive to our mental and physical health, daylighting streams can create healthier communities.
In this webinar, we will feature some exemplary projects by two engineering practices and their landscape architects in NJ and Virginia.
Speakers:
- Geoffrey M. Goll, PE, President, Princeton Hydro
- Vince Sortman, Fluvial Geomorphologist
- Warren T. Byrd, Jr., FASLA, Found Principal (retired), Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, Professor Emeritus, University of Virginia
Eliminating RSIS’ Hold on Stormwater
Date: November 1
Place: Virtual on Zoom
Cost: $50, 1.3 CLE credits available
Flooding is increasingly an issue that municipalities, residents, and businesses struggle to address. The 2023 Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Permit (MS4) sets new requirements for municipalities to address pollution and flooding. One of the new requirements is for municipalities to develop plans to reduce pollution and flooding. The Residential Site Improvement Standards (RSIS) can get in the way of municipal plans to address flooding. Stronger stormwater management can be a tool used by municipalities to reduce flooding and address pollution. But RSIS would prevent these protective standards from applying to residential development.
The way we think about stormwater is incomplete and a better understanding can lead to the elimination of the RSIS restriction. Learn why The Residential Site Improvement Standards (RSIS) should not prevent a town from enacting stronger stormwater protections, even for one and two-family properties. There is new legislation that will address this issue but there are other ways for municipalities to move forward.
This event will be 100% virtual and on Zoom. Recordings will be shared with attendees after the event.
If you have any questions about the event or are seeking a scholarship, please feel free to contact Pri Oliveira at [email protected].
MEET THE SPEAKERS CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Click here to view past Technical Friday Webinars