Workshop on Adapting Stormwater Management for a Changing Climate
Photo by D.C. Department of Energy and Environment
Dates: |
Thursday, March 5 – Friday, March 6, 2020 |
Location: |
Drexel University Washington D.C. Center |
Pre-Workshop Webinars: |
Overview
Extreme precipitation events are occurring more frequently in many parts of the United States, according to the Fourth National Climate Assessment, and the frequency of these events are expected to grow further as the climate warms. Recent extreme events, such as the ~4 inches in an hour that fell in the July 8th event in Washington D.C., have illustrated the devastating impacts that heavy precipitation can bring to urban areas, including damaging and disruptive flooding, reduced drinking water and receiving water quality, and wastewater overflows. These extreme rainfall events also have exposed critical gaps in planning when it comes to effective urban stormwater and wastewater management in a changing climate. Planners and engineers for utilities, municipalities, departments of transportation, and other infrastructure sectors are beginning to do more to plan for extreme precipitation events, but these efforts have been highly variable, depending on location, and do not yet reflect a consensus on best practices for analysis or planning.
This workshop is being offered by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (MARISA) team and the Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN), both funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Program Office.
Objective and Audience
The goal of this workshop is to bring together planning and technical leads from utilities and agencies across the Mid-Atlantic region to exchange ideas, discuss best practices, successes, and lessons learned regarding planning for extreme events and climate change in stormwater management. This workshop is targeted to leaders representing medium- to smaller-sized utilities in the region with responsibilities for stormwater planning and management as well as their associated engineers, consultants, and other staff members involved in the technical aspects of stormwater management.
Structure
The workshop has three parts:
- Pre-workshop webinars: in-depth webinars describing specific methods currently used to incorporate expected changes in local precipitation into stormwater planning and modeling.
- Day 1 of the workshop will provide an overview of the regulatory context; identify management methods relevant to climate resilience, scenario inputs, and modeling tools needed to support stormwater and urban flood risk planning; and discuss policy levers and challenges to implementation. In addition, there will be an overview of NOAA resources to facilitate planning.
- Day 2 of the workshop will have a more technical focus and will provide a synthesis of the state of the art in extreme precipitation forecasting and its inclusion in stormwater planning.
Participants can elect to participate in either one or both days of the workshop depending on their interests and needs.
Those attending the workshop, particularly Day 2, should plan to view the pre-workshop webinars. These webinars were recorded and archived for those who could attend live.
How to Attend
Due to the proximity of the workshop and a high level of interest, online registration has closed.
If you would like to learn how to attend, please contact Krista Romita Grocholski.