Decentralized Systems, Green Infrastructure, Innovation In Sanitation, Integrated Water Resources, Sustainable Water Management, Urban & Suburban

Greater Lakes: A Practical Guide to Implementing Integrated Water Resources Management & the Role of Green Infrastructure.

June 9, 2016 WasteWater Education Leave a comment

Greater Lakes: Reconnecting the Great Lakes Water Cycle is pleased to release A Practical Guide to Implementing Integrated Water Resources Management & the Role of Green Infrastructure.

Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc. developed this guide for our project. Its aim is to help municipalities that are considering implementing integrated water resources management to gain an understanding the value of and what is involved in creating an IWRM plan. The Guide provides a description of the planning steps to go through, a summary of the type of information that should be considered, and a series of questions that can guide a municipality to a logical position. The guide puts a particular focus on the role of green infrastructure in IWM. The Guide can be found on the Greater Lakes project at http://glc.org/files/GreaterLakes-ECT-IWM-How-To-Guide-Final-20160510.pdf.

We’d appreciate feedback on any use that you make of this Guide.

Please share this Guide with others who you think may be interested and put a link to it on your website.

We have just released a reporting entitled “Making Cents from Integrated Water Management: Financial Considerations for Municipalities Related to Water Conservation and Green Infrastructure” Thanks to all of you for the comments you made on the first draft. The report is available at http://glc.org/files/projects/greaterlakes/GreaterLakes-Financial-Implications-Summary-Report-20160513.pdf.

Greater Lakes Green Infrastructure Optimization Tool

This on-line tool was developed for the Greater Lakes project by Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc. to generate stormwater runoff volumes, identify the surface areas needed to manage those volumes and then compare the costs of various green management practices to manage the predicted volume. The estimates from the Greater Lakes Green Infrastructure Optimization Tool are for scoping and comparison purposes, and are intended to identify potential retention volumes. Once a management practice approach is selected, there are other tools/calculators that can provide more precision in the estimates prior to proceeding to final design. The results allow the user to make informed decisions, including cost comparisons with traditional detention basin systems when making stormwater management decisions. The on-line tool is available athttp://glc.org/projects/water-resources/greater-lakes/greater-lakes-green-infrastructure-optimization-tool/

Please let us know if you have any questions on the tool and, above all, let us know how it works for you when you try it out. Please share this tool with your colleagues.

The detailed report on ecological impacts in the six communities we focused on and detail on green infrastructure methods and the projects we conducted in some of those municipalities: http://glc.org/files/GreaterLakes-ECT-Withdrawals-Dicharges-GI-6-Municipalities-Final-20160510.pdf

John

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John Jackson

17 Major Street

Kitchener N2H 4R1

519-744-7503

Education

Earth Day – Past and Present

April 22, 2016 WasteWater Education Leave a comment

In the 46 years since that first Earth Day, how far have we come?

Sometimes it feels a lot like one step forward, two steps back.

And so on this Earth Day 2016 we ask you to remember all the future Earth Days facing the children of Flint, Michigan – and how uncertain that future will be.

A Message For Earth Day – Support the children of Flint, Michigan

“The 2014-2016 Flint water crisis has touched the hearts of people nationwide, and the response to flintkids.org is inspiring and deeply appreciated.
We know the needs of Flint children exposed to lead, particularly those most vulnerable – children ages 0-6 – are ongoing and long-term.
When you make a donation to the Flint Child Health & Development Fund, you can be assured that your gift will be used for critical interventions today and well into the future.”

WasteWater Education and it’s Board of Directors are making a group donation to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint to support the current and future needs of those children affected.

We are asking all our colleagues, friends and professional connections to join us!

See: https://www.cfgf.org/cfgf/GoodWork/FlintArea/WaterCrisis/tabid/855/Default.aspx

“Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha of Hurley Medical Center and Michigan State University, founding donor of the Flint Child Health & Development Fund who has been at the forefront of this issue, says “If there was ever a time to invest in our children, it is now. Our Flint children deserve every opportunity to be healthy and successful. The creation of this Fund will further ensure that our children are afforded the resources and interventions to overcome this population-wide exposure to lead.”

Source: Community Foundation of Greater Flint