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Storm Water Runoff and Whether There Is Need for Its Management
Stormwater runoff refers to the type of rainfall that always fall over the land’s surface. Stormwater occurs when rain strikes driveways, parking sections, roads, rooftops and many other paved areas that do not permit for soaking of water into the ground. Indeed, stormwater is the major cause of impairment of streams in the urban centers. As rain falls on the areas that are paved in these settings, it results in the generation of large quantity of runoffs when compared to areas that are forested. The large quantities of water finally find their ways into water catchment areas such as wetlands, lakes, and rivers. In the end (Mangangka et al 23), they lead to erosion, and flooding and even carrying away of essential habitats that live in streams. Runoffs due to stormwater pick and carry with it various pollutants that exist within the paved regions. Some of these pollutants include sediments, bacteria, grease, phosphorus, pesticides, trash, oil and metals. The sources of these pollutants may include wastes from pets, machinery, sites of construction, unwanted dumping, oil spillages and use of chemicals to control pests. With the continuous decline in surfaces that are paved within watersheds, there is also decline in the health standards drastically.
Following the desire of managing the stormwater runoff’s impacts, most authorities have come with regulations that set it as a requirement for a system of stormwater management within their plans.

Management of stormwater itself defines the application of certain practices, human-made or natural oriented that aim at the reduction, temporal detaining and either slowing or removal of pollutants within the stormwater runoff (Pennypacker 27). The practices within the management of stormwater are indeed vital in the restoration or minimization of the natural processes offered by the vegetative cover that was existing before the disruption of land. Most regions, the native vegetation cover, includes shrubs and trees. In this regard, the preservation of vegetation that is not disturbed during the development of land is indeed more cost effective way when compared to the destruction of the same features.
When used in the management of stormwater, trees, pipes, storage chamber, pumps and vegetation all constitute the green infrastructure. Most authorities are starting to realize the benefits associated with management of stormwater by use of green infrastructure and as a result, are anticipating for the conservation of forests and other vegetation covers.
Trees and forests offer improvement in the quality of the stream and the health of watershed since they decrease the quantity of stormwater runoff and pollutants that finally find their ways to the local waters. Also, both trees and forests aid in the reduction of runoff by stormwater through capturing and storage of rainfall as well as the release of water into the atmosphere through the process of evapotranspiration (Scholz 46). Likewise, roots and leaves litter help in the creation of conditions in soil that support the infiltration of rainwater into the soil. The instance here is advantageous in that it assists in the replenishment of supply of water from the ground and maintenance of stream flow during the seasons when there is no rainfall. Not forgetting, the availability of trees assist in slowing down and temporal storage of runoff that in this case further enhance the process of infiltration and decrement in flooding effects and erosion that occur downstream (Scholz 53). The same trees and forests assist in the reduction of pollutants through consumption of nutrients and other pollutants present in soil and water. Trees achieve this objective through absorbing the substances with their roots and also the transformation of the pollutants into substances that are of less harm altogether. Trees are every effective towards the reduction of runoff or any size. Added to these benefits, trees offer wide varieties of benefits as improvement in the quality of air, temperature reductions during summer times, reduction in costs incurred in cooling and heating, an increment in the values of properties and wildlife habitats and also serving the as recreation places and aesthetic functions.
Trees may are so essential when it comes to management of stormwater needs. However, the question that arises is why each and every person does not use them for this purpose altogether. As one of the reasons that can explain the failure to everyone to use trees in the management of stormwater, the developers themselves lack the incentives in using these trees unless they attain credits for their use, where also many authorities do not offer. For those authorities that offer such credits, it may not be the true reflection of the desired incentive altogether (Pazwash 56). A credit on stormwater management has the opportunity-reducing the management requirements of stormwater from a potential developer who has to satisfy them in exchange for initiating forest conservation practices or the application of design technologies that lead to the reduction of the created paved surfaces. In this regard, the credit system has a direct translation in cost reductions for the developer through the reduction of the magnitude of practices applied in the management of stormwater that also must be fulfilled. Similarly, the reduction of the volume of runoffs by use green infrastructures indeed also has so many benefits that supersede even the removal of pollutants (Pazwash 67). On the same note, it leads to the recharge of ground water, provision of best protection when it comes to aquatic life and also in the reduction of the size and costs incurred in laying the infrastructures that need to be constructed to manage stormwater runoffs. However, the greatest challenge here is the accountability of the reduction offs offered by the green infrastructure from rainfall or runoff models that engineers persistently use.

Most authorities that have regulations on the management of stormwater requiring from the site designers to capture and removal all contents that lead to pollution from a given volume of runoff. The same also applies to the regulation of the peak rate of runoff emanating from the site during certain events associated with a storm. Based on this scenario, the quality treatment of water is specified by the roles played in the removal of pollutants following the practices used in the management of stormwater (Mitchell, Sargand, and Andrew 45). However, it, in this case, fails to factor in the capability in the reduction of the whole runoff’s volume. Several nations are starting to realize that there other benefits associated with moving from this peak dependent stormwater management to an approach that pays attention in the reduction of the runoff’s volume that always leave a site. The approach here indeed is more desirable for cases of small, ever occurring storms that fit well with the benefit associated with stormwater management offered by trees.
Conclusively, the conservation of natural sites such as forests may lead to the reduction of the quantity of runoff that is generated. With regards, what comes out to be the most effective method that leads to the minimization of the impacts generated by the stormwater as discussed throughout this paper is the limitation of the size of the paved surfaces that are generated during the development. Similarly, there is the need to undertake a lot of preservation as possible of both natural topography and vegetation. On as specific note, the forests that are still existing may need protection during the times of construction and in turn be fully managed as conservation lands. In circumstances that do not have surviving forests, the process of reforestation may assist in offering solution towards these impacts altogether. The practice, in this case, has the opportunity of slowing down and filtration of pollutants from runoffs that are close to rooftops and driveways. On the other hand, there is likelihood in the minimization of the impacts created by stormwater runoff through the increment in the tree canopy on the paved surfaces so as to enhance the rainfall interception. Finally, many practices involving management of stormwater that utilize vegetation have depended primarily on the herbaceous type of vegetation that has fewer trees and shrubs. The justification for this is that engineers are only concerned with roots since tree leaves and branches will either compromise or affect the stability of the practice. A well-managed stormwater runoff will indeed be sustainable to those who live in the affected areas by the storm.
Works Cited
Mangangka, Isri R et al. Enhancing The Storm Water Treatment Performance Of Constructed Wetlands And Bioretention Basins. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2016. Print.
Mitchell, Gayle F, S. M Sargand, and Andrew Cairnes Russ. Exfiltration Trench For Post Construction Storm Water Management For Linear Transportation Projects. Athens, Ohio: ORITE, 2013. Print.
Pazwash, Hormoz. Urban Storm Water Management. Hoboken: CRC Press, 2007. Print.
Pennypacker, Eliza. Artful Rainwater Design. Island Press, 2015. Print.
Scholz, Miklas. Wetland Systems. London: Springer, 2011. Print.