Viewpoint: Handling storm water: Let's learn from others - Pensacola Florida
Viewpoint: Handling storm water: Let's learn from others Pensacola 3:26 p.m. CST February 1, 2015 (Photo: Ben Twingley/btwingley@pnj.com) Source: http://www.pnj.com/story/opinion/2015/01/30/viewpoint-handling-storm-water-learn-others/22606595/ Storm water infrastructure – be it pipes, ponds, or rain gardens – is typically designed to convey or capture runoff flows associated with a design storm, the magnitude of which is based on a probability distribution of observed rainfall events (Weather and Climate 101). One of the underlying assumptions of this design approach is that the rainfall probability distribution is static. However, recent climate trends across much of the country indicate large events are occurring with greater frequency, casting doubt on the notion of a rainfall distribution that is static in time and that storm water infrastructure designed by our current design storm approach can be expected to provide the intended level of service throughout its lifetime. Som...