On Day 2 of APWA’s Sustainability in Public Works Conference, we opened with comments from Diane Lieberman, APWA’s Director-at-Large. She stressed the issue of sustainability being meeting society’s need today in ways that will not adversely impact future development.
(For a review of Day 1, see this article.)
Dave Hutton, President of the Minnesota Chapter of APWA, offered some colorful notes on Minnesota, but also stressed how public works departments in Minnesota are really doing a fantastic job of incorporating sustainable principles into their projects, from the utilization of alternative fuels to water re-use to creating “impervious” footprints. He noted how one of the common issues for which sustainable design experience has been used is in mitigating coal tar sealant runoff that has plagued stormwater retention ponds.
Keith Reester, President-Elect of APWA’s Colorado chapter, reinforced Hutton and Lieberman’s comments in noting how public works professionals “have been doing the things we call sustainable for years–we just haven’t called it ‘sustainable.'” This cuts to the core of how environmentally responsible design is not necessarily costly. It can be as economically smart as it is “sustainable.” Balancing cost with performance is a huge responsibility for public works directors, engineers and personnel.
Reester also outlined six major initiatives being pursued by the newly formed APWA Center for Sustainability:
- Infuse sustainability in all programs of APWA, from annual congresses to chapter meetings and webinar education.
- Distribute the newly created "Sustainability Framework" document throughout the public works practice to gather feedback and allow those departments to see how easy it is to recognize sustainable principles in their work.
- Develop a full resource for sustainability information on the website of the APWA Center for Sustainability.
- Focus on coordination with the association’s various technical committees (e.g., Transportation, Water Resources)
- Further the partnership on sustainability issues with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA)
- Encourage chapter involvement, such as the Minnesota Chapter’s formation of an Environment and Sustainability Committee.
In closing out the morning’s first session comments, Julia Anastaio, Director of the APWA Center for Sustainabililty, stressed a number of ways the conference is promoting good practice. Presentations, for example, will be posted online, as will conference evaluation forms.
LATER
After an hour break for refreshments and conversation with the exhibitors, we reconvened for smaller discussions. I attended “Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Public Works Infrastructure” and, after lunch, a case study session on “Low Impact Development.”
The Climate Change presentation was led by Ray Sirios and Ryan Wingard of Wright-Pierce, an engineering firm based in New England. One of the issues they stressed was preparedness for 100-year storm events and the damage that flooding visits upon infrastructure.
A huge problem, of course, lies in the uncertainty that surrounds major storm events and balancing the cost of building stronger infrastructure with the tolerance of a public works’ departments “customers”–the citizens whose tax money enables the public works service. They noted that the public must be involved in decisions, and they encouraged public works departments to share issues of risk management with citizens in order to help justify the need to spend on better infrastructure.
And regardless of whether one believes in “climate change,” it could not be disputed that both increased risk of drought and flooding are simultaneously striking communities. There are plenty of examples to point to.
It was interesting to learn that 100-year storm events are still largely being designed into infrastructure upon Technical Paper 40 (TP-40), which was published by the Soil Conservation Service in May 1961–almost 50 years ago! A number of analyses indicate that the 5.9-inches of rain in 24 hours, for example, used in many stormwater management designs should be in fact closer to 7.5 or 8 inches now, when one considers rainfall data from the years since TP-40’s publication.
If climate change predictions, such as from the International Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2007 meeting are correct, a conservative estimate is 15 inches by 2100.
Clearly, many measures beyond simple diversion are needed to handle all this water when it comes! And heightened conservation strategies will be needed during drought.
A similar message was delivered by Kentucky-based engineer Jason Hale of CDP Engineers. His presentation on the BMP parking lot construction for the Georgetown (Kentucky) Fire House demonstrated both drought tolerance in plantings (supported by rainwater harvesting) and porous asphalt and pavement strategies to increase infiltration. The project, which was supported by many grants and price breaks from material manufacturers and service providers, also utilized two types of stormwater detention systems below ground so that all water entering the site stayed on site and could be used.
Christopher Kelsey is the editorial director for Geosynthetica. He can be reached at chris@geosynthetica.net.
