Category Archive: Green Infrastructure

May 04

Save the Sewers, Catch Some Rain

A growing network of rain gardens . . . Learn more: A group of non-profits are mobilizing volunteers to install rain gardens in residential neighborhoods in Detroit. These specially designed gardens trap water before it can overwhelm the sewer system, and keep it from running across surfaces where it could pick up pollution and carry it …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/detroit-wants-you-to-catch-some-rain/

Apr 30

Not All Engineers Work In An Office

Build up knowledge on nature’s engineers  . . . Learn more: “Before European colonization, beavers would have been ubiquitous across the northern United States Great Lakes region,” explains Melinda Daniels of the Stroud Water Research Center in Pennsylvania. She says in developed areas, beaver dams can be a nuisance, “but if there’s room, beavers are …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/green-infrastructure/not-all-engineers-work-in-an-office/

Apr 22

Climate Woes in Pennsylvania Waterways

Climate change is bringing warmer, wetter weather to the Keystone State. Shen: “If we were to summarize the changes that Pennsylvania is facing in two words, that would be warmer and wetter.” Chaopeng Shen of Penn State says climate change affects fresh water, in part because unusually warm weather helps foster algal blooms that can contaminate water …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/climate-woes-in-pennsylvania-waterways/

Apr 01

Managing Stormwater and Sewage

In many parts of Pittsburgh, stormwater and sewage are carried in the same pipes. So during heavy rain, the system can overflow, and dump untreated sewage directly into the city’s rivers. “As we get more and more rain, it just is an outdated way of managing the flow of stormwater. And it’s just disgusting,” says Stephan …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/managing-stormwater-and-sewage/

Mar 25

Riparian Buffers

A group of trees lining a babbling brook does more than make an idyllic picture. “It filters out nutrients, it holds soil in place, it adds shade when the trees have canopy to streams, and controls water temperature,” says Alysha Trexler with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. She says excess fertilizer from farm fields, dirt from rural …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/agricultural-runoff/riparian-buffers/

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