Urban Stormwater as a Resource: Possiblites for a New Public Space in Clemson University

Freshwater scarcity is a growing global issue. There are two aspects in rising of this issue, the growth of population increases use of water exponentially and the surface freshwaters are getting more and more polluted. EPA reports that urban water runoff is the main source of pollutant in estuaries and third main source of impairments in lakes. The statistics shows that majority of world’s population will live in cities [5]. This makes urban areas the major consumer of freshwater and also the main source for freshwater imparities. Urban runoff is the portion of precipitation that cannot percolate into the ground due to impervious surfaces, this water then runs off the land into surface waters and washes the pollutants from urban land into the resources [12]. In response to the problem of pollution and flooding, Low Impact Development practices have been introduced that suggests on maintaining natural hydrology of a site while developing on it. The concept of Green Infrastructure also refers to urban’s infrastructure’s ability to mimic nature in soaking and storing the stormwater. In addition to these there is the practice of stormwater harvesting that deals with catching of stormwater for use on site. This study is an effort in understanding and implementing the principles of stormwater harvesting and LID with the goal of capturing urban runoff of a city block, treating it through landscape for it to be used on the same block. In addition to the practices that deal with water runoff itself EPA has urged public education and public involvement as part of the effort in managing the stormwater. The intention of the experimental project is to propose a prototype public space than not only raises the awareness about the subject but also reduces the urban runoff as well as use of potable water