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. 2011 Dec;119(12):A514-9.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.119-a514.

Stormwater strategies: cities prepare aging infrastructure for climate change

Rebecca Kessler

Stormwater strategies: cities prepare aging infrastructure for climate change

Rebecca Kessler. Environ Health Perspect. 2011 Dec.
No abstract available

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Figures

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Memphis, Tennessee, 13 June 2011: A state Department of Transportation employee works to unclog a drain on the Madison Avenue ramp onto I-240, where the flow of traffic stopped due to high water covering the road. Heavy rain and wind had pounded Memphis earlier in the day, knocking out power to tens of thousands of residents and causing numerous traffic accidents (including the one in the background). The storm came just weeks after historic flooding of the Mississippi River overwhelmed the city’s sewer system, sending raw sewage into yards, streets, and the river itself. © Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal/ZUMAPRESS.com
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Combined sewer systems collect rainwater and sewage in the same pipe. The mixed waste is transported to a plant where it is treated before being discharged. If the volume of wastewater in a combined sewer system exceeds capacity, as during a heavy rainstorm, the system is designed to discharge the excess—which can include raw sewage and toxic chemicals—directly into nearby water bodies. In a separate sewer system, sewage is directed to a treatment plant via one pipe while untreated rainwater is discharged into water bodies via another. Even in these systems, however, raw sewage may make its way into water ways, perhaps by migrating from compromised pipes. Joseph Tart/EHP
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Projected Change in North American Precipitation by 2080–2099 These maps show projected future changes in precipitation relative to the recent past as simulated by 15 climate models from the World Climate Research Programme Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 3. The simulations assume a higher emissions scenario. Hatched areas reflect seasons and locales where there is greater agreement among models that projected changes are likely. There is less confidence in exactly where the transition between wetter and drier areas will occur. Source: Karl et al. (2009)
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Increases in the Number of Days with Very Heavy Precipitation (1958–2007) | Projected Changes in Light, Moderate, and Heavy Precipitation (by 2090) The map to the left illustrates how heavy rains have become more frequent and intense across the United States over the past 50 years, with the greatest increases in very heavy precipitation in the Northeast and Midwest. The figure above shows further changes projected by 2090 (compared with the 1990s) in average amounts of light, moderate, and heavy precipitation in North America. Source (both figures): Karl et al. (2009)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. The term “100-year storm” refers to a theoretical event known as the 1% annual exceedance probability (AEP) storm. The 1% AEP storm is severe enough that it has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year and, therefore, an average recurrence interval of 100 years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
    1. A 25-year storm has a 4% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year and, therefore, an average recurrence interval of 25 years.
    1. ICLR. CAT Hotsheet. August 19 Ontario Storm aka “Freaky Friday.” Toronto, Ontario:Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (19 Aug 2005). Available: http://www.iclr.org/images/Hotsheet_August_19_storm.pdf [accessed 15 Nov 2011].
    1. NACWA, AMWA. Confronting Climate Change: An Early Analysis of Water and Wastewater Adaptation Costs. Englewood, CO:CH2M HILL, Inc. (2009). Available: http://www.nacwa.org/images/stories/public/2009-10-28ccreport.pdf [accessed 15 Nov 2011].
    1. NDWAC. Climate Ready Water Utilities. Final Report of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council. Washington, DC:National Drinking Water Advisory Council (2010). Available: http://water.epa.gov/drink/ndwac/climatechange/upload/CRWU-NDWAC-Final-R... [accessed 15 Nov 2011].

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