Student research looks to help storm water runoff
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Rain gardens help
alleviate storm water runoff into streets and driveways.
(45K
JPG) |
 rban development, by its very nature, creates
problems for storm water runoff. Rain that falls on grass, wetlands
and farm fields or runs off to rivers and lakes simply isn’t absorbed
by streets, driveways and office parks.
Civil and Environmental Engineering student Eric
Booth wanted to find out if storm water runoff in developing areas could
be mitigated. So in the summer of 2003, he decided to conduct a “storm
water audit” to assess stormwater runoff in developed areas.
His research was featured at the 2004 UW-Madison
Undergraduate Research Symposium this past spring on campus. The symposium
features the university’s top undergraduate research projects.
His research was supervised by Professor
Ken Potter.
“There’s really not much data,”
Booth said of his research efforts on stormwater runoff.
Booth set up collection points in 32 Madison lawns.
He took three two-foot steel rings, pressed them into the ground, and
filled them with water. He then took a soil sample from each lawn. He
also measured the amount of driveway, sidewalk and roof area on the
property, and took into account factors such as the property’s
slope and whether the property had any storm water mitigation factors
such as downspouts. He also took the soil samples to a laboratory to
assess their nutrient qualities.Booth said he was quite surprised to
find a wide variety of storm water absorption rates in the lawns. “It
was quite diverse.”
Booth then provided tips to residents who volunteered
their lawns for the project on ways to reduce and mitigate storm water
runoff. He recommended changes such as redirecting a rainspout to avoid
hard surfaces, or creating a rain garden to absorb water before it gets
to a driveway or street. “Some of the simple things can really
make a difference in terms of runoff on their property,” Booth
said.
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