Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2012 - (Page 4)
ON THE ROOF WITH…
REPORTING DONE RIGHT, THANkS TO THE NATURAL RESOURCES DEfENSE COUNCIL
ROOfTOPS TO RIVERS II: GREEN STRATEGIES fOR CONTROLLING STORMwATER AND COMbINED SEwER OVERfLOwS
INTERVIEwED by: MELISSA kOIS
STORMwATER MANAGEMENT IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE fACING jUST AbOUT EVERy CITy, IN EVERy STATE AND PROVINCE IN bOTH THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. AN ESTIMATED 18 TRILLION GALLONS Of CONTAMINATED STORMwATER ENTER OUR wATERwAyS EVERy yEAR NEGATIVELy IMPACTING fISHERIES, RECREATION AND DRINkING wATER SUPPLIES. wITH OVER 1.3 MILLION MEMbERS AND ONLINE ACTIVISTS AND MORE THAN 350 LAwyERS, SCIENTISTS, AND OTHER PROfESSIONALS, THE NATURAL RESOURCES DEfENSE COUNCIL (NRDC) MAy bE THE MOST POwERfUL ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIzATION IN THE US. THE NATIONAL jOURNAL REfERS TO THE NRDC AS “A CREDIbLE AND fORCEfUL ADVOCATE fOR STRINGENT ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.” THE NRDC wORkS ON A VARIETy Of ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND RECENTLy COMPLETED ITS SECOND MAjOR REPORT ON STORMwATER TITLED
ROOfTOPS TO RIVERS II: GREEN STRATEGIES fOR CONTROLLING STORMwATER AND COMbINED SEwER OVERfLOwS OVERfLOwS RELEASED IN NOVEMbER 2011. wRITTEN by kAREN HObbS AND NOAH GARRISON, THIS REPORT DESCRIbES HOw LEADING CITIES ARE USING GREEN INfRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS TO MANAGE THEIR STORMwATER ISSUES, GENERATE LOCAL EMPLOyMENT AND bUILD MORE SUSTAINAbLE COMMUNITIES. THE US EPA IS POISED TO REfORM MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS fOR THE SOURCES Of STORMwATER RUNOff wHICH wERE PUT INTO PLACE MORE THAN 20 yEARS AGO. THIS REPORT IS PART Of AN EffORT TO HAVE THE EPA ADOPT bETTER MINIMUM STANDARDS wHICH ALSO INCORPORATE GREEN INfRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS.
I MET UP wITH bOTH kAREN AND NOAH TO DISCUSS ROOfTOP TO RIVERS II fOR THIS “ON THE ROOf” wITH INTERVIEw.
LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR / SPRING 2012 / 4
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Spring 2012