Artful Rainwater Design has three main parts: first, the book outlines five amenity-focused goals that might be highlighted in a project: education, recreation, safety, public relations, and aesthetic appeal. Next, it focuses on techniques for ecologically sustainable stormwater management that complement the amenity goals. Finally, it features diverse case studies that show how designers around the country are implementing principles of artful rainwater design.

"This new edition of the 'Blue Book' provides updated guidance for local councils and practitioners for the design, construction and implementation of measures to improve stormwater management, primarily erosion and sediment control, during the construction-phase of urban development. "--Landcom website.

Sustainable land development strategies based on scientific information Land and Natural Development (LAND) Code offers a pioneering method to develop sites in harmony with natural processes that is solidly based on peer-reviewed scientific findings. While the LAND Code can be readily used in conjunction with LEED, EPA, and other guidelines, it features several unique characteristics, including: Recommendations based on peer-reviewed scientific research Rating scheme that weights each development and land use practice based on its environmental benefit and difficulty of implementation Straightforward, step-by-step system that is accessible to non-experts Focus on land rather than buildings Extensive use of photographs and diagrams to illustrate practices and procedures After an introduction, the book begins with chapters covering water, soil, air, living resources, energy, and materials. Throughout these chapters, the authors recommend tested and proven strategies that minimize disruption of the natural processes. Each chapter provides background, describes benefits for both developers and ecosystems, and recommends protective strategies in simple, non-technical language (a glossary is provided explaining all terms not in common usage). A toolbox of environmental engineering methods to implement the strategies follows, and the final chapter of the book provides a series of examples of actual development projects in which a variety of approaches have successfully attained sustainable development. With its emphasis on scientific understanding, the LAND Code offers you the information needed to make and implement decisions for ecologically sound land development.

The rapid conversion of land to urban and suburban areas has profoundly altered how water flows during and following storm events, putting higher volumes of water and more pollutants into the nation's rivers, lakes, and estuaries. These changes have degraded water quality and habitat in virtually every urban stream system. The Clean Water Act regulatory framework for addressing sewage and industrial wastes is not well suited to the more difficult problem of stormwater discharges. This book calls for an entirely new permitting structure that would put authority and accountability for stormwater discharges at the municipal level. A number of additional actions, such as conserving natural areas, reducing hard surface cover (e.g., roads and parking lots), and retrofitting urban areas with features that hold and treat stormwater, are recommended.

Urban development puts strain on the environment in numerous ways. Flora and fauna are pushed off the land, but more immediate to human health, the increase in impervious cover can lead to greater risks of flooding and polluted waters. The City of Austin made a commitment to the environment and managing the city’s hydrology in its 2012 Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan. The city’s Watershed Protection Department (WPD) is working to fulfill the city’s promise by writing regulation to be included in CodeNEXT, the rewrite of the City’s land development code. The aim of this “beneficial use” regulation is to infiltrate, reuse or evapotranspire rainwater that falls on highly impervious multi-family and commercial sites within the city limits. I was hired by the WPD to conduct feasibility studies of their regulation and began by familiarizing myself with Austin’s Environmental Criteria Manual (ECM) and the history behind the proposed regulation. I first investigate the extent green stormwater control measures (GSCMs) laid out in the ECM can be implemented on existing sites in the city of varying degrees of impermeability selected by WPD staff. Starting from city archived site plans and shapefiles, I place GSCMs spatially in ArcGIS and use the ECM to determine whether the beneficial use volume threshold set by the city could be met for each site. Finally, I discuss how the findings of my study led to a simplification of the proposed regulation.