"Rethinking Runoff: Design Clean Solutions to Manage Stormwater Pollution"
Future City National provides an extensive list of resources on the National Website
under the section Write the Essay. These can help you start you investigations into this years theme. They include:
Citation Template- a downloadable pdf of the MLA Reference Template
A listing of Websites and Videos on this years theme.
A list of Books
A list of Google search words
A list of Field Trip Suggestions
You can click on the National Web site link to the left or go directly to the resource
page at the link below:
MyFairLakes.com has an introductory powerpoint presentation and text that introduces
the water cycle, compares rainfall on natural landscape vs. cityscapes, introduces
some of the consequences of stormwater runoff like erosion, flash floods and pollution.
It also introduces solutons that help cityscapes function more like natural landscapes.
You can download both the powerpoint and text for free on their website at the link
below.
HERE ARE SOME OF YOUR GA FUTURE CITY STEERING COMMITTEE'S FAVORITE VIDEOS ON THIS
YEAR'S THEME.
This video was produced by the EPA and introduces issues and solutions to stormwater
runoff
The National Resouces Defense Council (NRDC) produced this video entitled How Stormwater
Runoff Effects You. You can also find more information on their website at:
This video by Free Range is entitled A Drop's Life
RESOURCES FOR OUR REGION
The Atlanta Regional Commission has developed a three volume manual on Georgia Stormwater
Management designed to provide guidance on stormwater management. Its a good technical
source book for our region. You download it for free at the following link:
LID is an approach to building and planning that treats stormwater as a resource rather
than a waste product. LID strategies minimize impervious surfaces and work with nature,
preserving or recreating natural landscape features. The intent is to maintain as
much of the stormwater as possible on-site and provide attractive and functional on-site
drainage. Some LID strategies include:
bioretention facilities
rain gardens
vegetated or green roofs
rain barrels
permeable pavements.
These practices help to manage stormwater and reduce the impact of the built environment
on our ecosystem and restore and or maintain the watershed’s hydrolic and ecological
functions.
Green Infrastructure
We use the term Green Infrastructure to refer to those practices and systems that
use or mimic natural processes to infiltrate, evapotraspirate or reuse stormwater
on-site where it originates.
For a great introduction to Green Infrastructure check out this free download from
Authors Michael Benedict and Edward McMahon, entitled Green Infrastructure: Smart
Conservation for the 21st Century You can download the pdf at
You can find information on Atlanta's Project Greenspace,a public process for improving
Atlanta's green space, with links to Green Infrastructure at the following link
This year’s Future City Theme RETHINKING RUNOFF focuses on water use and conservation.
Water is a precious resource, something we in Georgia have come to realize with the
recent water wars. Here are some interesting facts about Water in our area from the
Atlanta Regional Commission’s Fifty Forward Initiative brochure on Sustainability.
55% of all the water used is consumed at home.
The average rainfall in the Atlanta metro area is historically 52 ...inches. In 2007 during the drought that rainfall was reduced to 32 inches.
The improper disposal of used motor oil from one oil change can contaminate a million
gallons of water. That’s a year’s supply of water for 50 people.
A typical U.S. household washes 400 loads of laundry a year. A conventional washer
uses 40 gallons of water per load. Using a certified Energy Star washer that uses
only 18-25 gallons of water per load saves 15 to 22 gallons per load. That’s a savings
of 6,000 to 8,800 gallons of water per household per year.
A low-flow toilet can save 10 gallons of water per person per day. A family of four
could save 1,200 gallons per month or 14,400 gallons a year.
An inefficient sprinkler can deliver 300 gallons of water per hour. Over watering
also encourages shallow root development making plants more susceptible to drought.
The Clayton Country Water Authority saved $14.62 in reduced water production for every
$1.00 it spent on its water leak detection and repair program. The program saved 5.8
million gallons of water per day.
To ensure safe drinking water, our nation's water utilities will have to make an estimated
$277 billion dollar investment over the next 20 years.
BE A PART OF THE FUTURE! DESIGN YOUR FUTURE CITY TODAY!
