Content Analysis Quiz

Towards Sustainable Cities: Water Sensitive Urban Design

• The presentation discusses water-sensitive urban design (WSUD)
• It explores the evolution and application of terminology in WSUD
• Key terminologies include: Low Impact Development (LID) in North America and New Zealand; Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) in Australia; Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) in the United Kingdom; and Best Management Practices (BMP) in the United States and Canada.

United Nation Sustainable Development Goals Target

• Goal 6: Ensuring availability and sustainable water management, and sanitation for all people.
• Goal 11: Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
• Goal 13: Taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Urban Sprawl

• Research shows that when impervious area in a watershed reaches 10 percent, stream ecosystems start to show signs of degradation.
• Impervious area exceeding 30 percent is linked with severe and potentially irreversible degradation.

Types of Water Problems

• Flash flooding
• Water contamination
• Stream scouring

Hard vs. Soft Engineering

• Hard engineering focuses on moving polluted water to another location e.g. using pipes and channels
• Soft engineering aims to treat pollution on site, e.g., using vegetation and infiltration.
• Examples of different infrastructure choices based on population size are included.

Principles of Watershed Approach

• Enhancing landscape biodiversity
• Maximizing water infiltration
• Eliminating surface runoff
• Designing distributed hydrological networks.

Watershed Approach Details (biological processes)

• Plants, soil, and water act as natural filtration and treatment systems.
• Different roles include decomposers, transporters, exchangers, and processors

Climate Change Problems as Addressed by Low Impact Development (LID)

• Heat islands in urban environments
• Increased rainfall and extreme weather events.

Low Impact Development (LID)

• LID uses ecologically-based stormwater management.
• The goal is to maintain the site’s pre-development hydrologic regime.
• LID techniques include infiltration, filtration, storage, and evaporation of runoff, close to the origin.
• Conventional systems redirect or convey runoff elsewhere.

Environmental Impacts of LID

• Capturing stormwater runoff (35-50% of rainfall) and its pollutants.
• Reduced peak flow rates and volume.
• Improvement of water quality through treatment and infiltration
• Improved groundwater recharge.
• Enhanced beauty and community value.

LID Implementation

• Implementation considerations across building, property, and open spaces are addressed

Property Considerations (LID implementation)

• Conventional and LID lawns.
• Conventional and LID parking lots.

Surface Materials

• Different surface materials with varying degrees of permeability and impact on runoff.
• Porous asphalt, pervious concrete, interlocking pavers, alternative paving, gravel systems, grass concrete, and turf are detailed.
• The impact of impervious surfaces on water runoff is significant.

Parking Lot Design

• The presentation looks at different ways in which parking lots can be designed including different levels of ecological consideration.

###Low Impact Streets

• Curb alternatives such as perforated pre-cast curbs, pre-fabricated curb inserts, curb cuts, flush curbs, paving strips with sediment trenches, and double flush curbs are discussed.
• Soft and hard infrastructure strategies in street design.

Components of Low Impact Streets

• Curb alternatives
• Soft infrastructure
• Plants as a component for treatment and conveyance of runoff

Treatment Parks

• The presentation shows how urban parks can be part of LID strategies.
• Parks are envisioned where various methods of slowing, spreading, and soaking stormwater are demonstrated.

Greenway

• Greenways are crucial connective elements in urban open space networks.
• They are integrated into the planning for urban ecological systems. Ecological services are provided for water quality, transportation, and habitat.

LID Facilities

• Overview of various LID facilities: flow control, detention, retention, infiltration, and treatment

Oversized Pipes

• Oversized pipe infrastructures manage higher volumes of runoff during large storms..

Flow Control Devices

• Flow splitters, level spreaders, and rock swales aid in reducing high runoff volumes.
• These devices are placed for peak runoff attenuation.

Underground Detention

• Stormwater is stored temporarily in underground detention systems.
• Systems release water slowly.

Detention Pond

• Detention ponds or dry ponds store runoff temporarily allowing time for sediment deposition before release to a downstream system.
• These ponds work to reduce peak flow rates.

Wet Vault

• Underground, temporary storage for stormwater.
• This facility mitigates and treats runoff while allowing gradual release downstream.

Rainwater Harvesting

• Rainwater harvesting collects rainwater for reuse.
• Various storage solutions are discussed for collection and storage of rainwater.

Surface Sand Filter

• These filters manage the initial rush of runoff.
• They separate heavier particles and store water.

Vegetated Wall

• Vertical gardens implemented as a wall.
• These walls can improve water filtration in urban areas

Vegetated Roof

• Vegetated roofs are designed for rainwater collection.
• Runoff is slowed, and volume is reduced through evaporation from plants.

Pervious Paving

• Water absorption is supported by a porous base or layers of soil.
• Water is absorbed into the ground, reducing runoff volumes.

Infiltration Trench

• An engineered layer in the ground for controlled water infiltration..
• These trenches can be designed with an amended soil layer.

Tree Box Filter

• Root systems aid in water treatment to reduce stormwater runoff.

Rain Garden

• Rain gardens collect, absorb, and store stormwater runoff through infiltration.
• Native plants chosen for appropriate conditions.

Riparian Buffer

• These strips of vegetation along water bodies slow runoff as well as filter pollutants

Bioswale

• A sloped channel with vegetation to filter and absorb stormwater runoff.

Test your understanding of content analysis with this quiz. You'll explore the primary focus, nature, and intended outcomes of the provided content. Engage in critical thinking to identify included elements and draw conclusions from the information given.