During the week of May 22-26, Equinox Environmental in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center presented a poster at the World Environmental & Water Resources Congress conference in Palms Springs, California. Presenting at this conference was a real milestone for us at Equinox as we look towards helping others deal with the impacts of climate change. The conference provided an important opportunity for national and international professionals to convene to discuss pressing issues in the environmental and water resource fields.The joint effort from Equinox and NOAA included a presentation on the impacts of climate change on the water cycle, the projected trends and changes in precipitation, and the use of stormwater management strategies to address these impacts. The primary focus of the presentation was the application of Integrated Stormwater Management (ISM) as a way to adapt to weather pattern changes such as an increase in heavy rain events due to climate change.The advantage ofISM is that it combines both water quality treatment with storage capacity. “It promotes the capture of stormwater through the use of natural systems (as opposed to traditional piped systems) to treat polluted runoff and the use of storage facilities to control the additional volume associated with heavy rain events” stated Equinox’ Stormwater Specialist & Landscape Architect, Fred Grogan. This is exciting because ISM also minimizes the amount of land needed to manage stormwater runoff which is often a challenge when designing stormwater facilities.
The partnership we have formed with NOAA is an amazing opportunity for us to be at the forefront of climate change work and will propel us as leaders in the response to global climate change. Working directly with world renowned scientists, we have been provided the opportunity to serve as an ambassador for design professionals such as landscape architects and to craft strategies and design solutions that will help society adapt and mitigate the impacts of a warmer climate. Our next presentation with NOAA will be at the 19th Conference on Applied Climatology: Practical Solutions for a Warming World, which will be held July 18–20, 2011 in Asheville, NC.
**Please click the link above to view the full version of our presentation board**
Written by David Tuch, Equinox’ Vice-President & Landscape Architect in reference to the presentation titled, “The Effects of Global Climate Change on the Water Cycle and Water Quality: The Use of Stormwater Best Management Practices to Address Future Impacts”.
