Storm water management for society and nature via service learning, ecological engineering and ecohydrology

Abstract

A framework for urban storm‐water management that moves beyond flood control to improve societal and ecological services will maximize the functions and benefits of water resources management. Theoretical constructs for such work originate from the integration of ecological engineering, ecohydrology and service learning paradigms. Implementation consists of simulating, monitoring and reporting how storm‐water design decisions to infiltrate or directly discharge runoff result in a complex set of linked adjustments to the dynamics of the water table, soil chemistry concentrations, plant stress/viability, terrestrial habitat, river loads/flows, and aquatic habitat patterns. Coordination of a socio‐ecological‐based urban storm‐water management programme is discussed using a case study in the Onondaga Creek watershed that drains through the City of Syracuse, NY, USA. In Onondaga Creek, service learning‐directed research gathered findings on the geomorphological characterization of a healthy stream, flood impacts of storm sewer separation, and channel stability with concrete removal. Unfortunately, linkages between systems will remain unexplored until the development of more tightly coupled channel‐watershed simulation models.