#stormwater protection

[mikegaragedoorrepairs]

Waterproofing your garage door is an essential step in protecting your home and belongings from stormwater damage. By following these steps and maintaining your garage door regularly, you can ensure it stands up to Fort Collins, Colorado’s diverse weather conditions. Remember, a little prevention goes a long way in avoiding costly water damage repairs.

For all your garage door needs, including waterproofing solutions, trust the experts at Mike Garage Door Repair. We’re here to help keep your garage dry and your peace of mind intact. Contact us today for a consultation or to schedule a service appointment.

[vistalandcare]

Erosion Control and Auckland Council's Approach to Erosion and Sediment Management

Erosion control is a critical component of sustainable land management, particularly in urban areas like Auckland, where development can significantly impact the environment. The Auckland Council has recognized the importance of effective erosion and sediment control measures to protect waterways, preserve natural landscapes, and ensure the health of local ecosystems.

Understanding Erosion and Its Impact

Erosion is a natural process where soil and rock are worn away by wind, water, or ice. However, human activities, such as construction, land clearing, and deforestation, can exacerbate this process, leading to increased sediment runoff. Sediment can clog waterways, reduce water quality, and harm aquatic habitats. Moreover, erosion can compromise the structural integrity of buildings and infrastructure, resulting in costly repairs and environmental degradation.

Auckland Council's Erosion and Sediment Control Guidelines

The Auckland Council has established comprehensive guidelines to address erosion and sediment control in the region. These guidelines aim to mitigate the impacts of erosion, protect water quality, and promote responsible land use. Here are some key elements of Auckland Council's approach:

1. Erosion and Sediment Control Plans (ESCPs)

For any construction or land disturbance project, an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (ESCP) is required. This plan outlines the measures that will be implemented to minimize erosion and sediment runoff. It must be tailored to the specific site conditions and activities, ensuring that appropriate control measures are in place before any work begins.

2. Best Management Practices (BMPs)

The Auckland Council promotes a range of best management practices (BMPs) for effective erosion and sediment control. These include:

Silt Fences: Temporary barriers made of geotextile fabric, installed to intercept sediment-laden runoff and prevent it from leaving the site.

Sediment Basins: These are designed to capture sediment from stormwater runoff, allowing it to settle before the water is released into nearby waterways.

Mulching and Hydro Mulching: Applying mulch or using hydroseeding techniques to stabilize soil and promote vegetation growth, which helps bind the soil and reduce erosion.

Vegetative Buffer Strips: Establishing buffer zones of vegetation around waterways to filter sediment and absorb runoff before it reaches sensitive areas.

3. Regular Monitoring and Maintenance

To ensure the effectiveness of erosion and sediment control measures, the Auckland Council emphasizes the need for regular monitoring and maintenance. This includes inspecting control measures during and after rain events, repairing any damaged infrastructure, and ensuring that vegetation is thriving.

4. Public Education and Engagement

The Auckland Council recognizes that community involvement is vital for successful erosion control. They provide educational resources and workshops to inform landowners, developers, and contractors about the importance of erosion and sediment control and how to implement effective practices on their properties.

Conclusion

Erosion control is essential for protecting Auckland's natural resources and ensuring the sustainability of its urban environment. By adhering to the Auckland Council's guidelines for erosion and sediment management, developers and landowners can contribute to preserving the region's waterways, reducing environmental impact, and promoting responsible land use practices. With the right measures in place, we can safeguard Auckland's landscapes for future generations while fostering a healthier ecosystem.

[pumpingstationsuk]

Effective Flood Prevention with Storm and Grey Water Pumping Stations

Discover how storm and grey water pumping stations can effectively prevent flooding by efficiently collecting and redirecting excess water. Learn about the role of these systems in safeguarding communities from flood risks. Contact Packaged Pumping Stations Ltd. for expert solutions tailored to your needs.

[reasonsforhope]

As relentless rains pounded LA, the city’s “sponge” infrastructure helped gather 8.6 billion gallons of water—enough to sustain over 100,000 households for a year.

Earlier this month, the future fell on Los Angeles. A long band of moisture in the sky, known as an atmospheric river, dumped 9 inches of rain on the city over three days—over half of what the city typically gets in a year. It’s the kind of extreme rainfall that’ll get ever more extreme as the planet warms.

The city’s water managers, though, were ready and waiting. Like other urban areas around the world, in recent years LA has been transforming into a “sponge city,” replacing impermeable surfaces, like concrete, with permeable ones, like dirt and plants. It has also built out “spreading grounds,” where water accumulates and soaks into the earth.

With traditional dams and all that newfangled spongy infrastructure, between February 4 and 7 the metropolis captured 8.6 billion gallons of stormwater, enough to provide water to 106,000 households for a year. For the rainy season in total, LA has accumulated 14.7 billion gallons.

Long reliant on snowmelt and river water piped in from afar, LA is on a quest to produce as much water as it can locally. “There's going to be a lot more rain and a lot less snow, which is going to alter the way we capture snowmelt and the aqueduct water,” says Art Castro, manager of watershed management at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. “Dams and spreading grounds are the workhorses of local stormwater capture for either flood protection or water supply.”

Centuries of urban-planning dogma dictates using gutters, sewers, and other infrastructure to funnel rainwater out of a metropolis as quickly as possible to prevent flooding. Given the increasingly catastrophic urban flooding seen around the world, though, that clearly isn’t working anymore, so now planners are finding clever ways to capture stormwater, treating it as an asset instead of a liability. “The problem of urban hydrology is caused by a thousand small cuts,” says Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute at UC Berkeley. “No one driveway or roof in and of itself causes massive alteration of the hydrologic cycle. But combine millions of them in one area and it does. Maybe we can solve that problem with a thousand Band-Aids.”

Or in this case, sponges. The trick to making a city more absorbent is to add more gardens and other green spaces that allow water to percolate into underlying aquifers—porous subterranean materials that can hold water—which a city can then draw from in times of need. Engineers are also greening up medians and roadside areas to soak up the water that’d normally rush off streets, into sewers, and eventually out to sea...

To exploit all that free water falling from the sky, the LADWP has carved out big patches of brown in the concrete jungle. Stormwater is piped into these spreading grounds and accumulates in dirt basins. That allows it to slowly soak into the underlying aquifer, which acts as a sort of natural underground tank that can hold 28 billion gallons of water.

During a storm, the city is also gathering water in dams, some of which it diverts into the spreading grounds. “After the storm comes by, and it's a bright sunny day, you’ll still see water being released into a channel and diverted into the spreading grounds,” says Castro. That way, water moves from a reservoir where it’s exposed to sunlight and evaporation, into an aquifer where it’s banked safely underground.

On a smaller scale, LADWP has been experimenting with turning parks into mini spreading grounds, diverting stormwater there to soak into subterranean cisterns or chambers. It’s also deploying green spaces along roadways, which have the additional benefit of mitigating flooding in a neighborhood: The less concrete and the more dirt and plants, the more the built environment can soak up stormwater like the actual environment naturally does.

As an added benefit, deploying more of these green spaces, along with urban gardens, improves the mental health of residents. Plants here also “sweat,” cooling the area and beating back the urban heat island effect—the tendency for concrete to absorb solar energy and slowly release it at night. By reducing summer temperatures, you improve the physical health of residents. “The more trees, the more shade, the less heat island effect,” says Castro. “Sometimes when it’s 90 degrees in the middle of summer, it could get up to 110 underneath a bus stop.”

LA’s far from alone in going spongy. Pittsburgh is also deploying more rain gardens, and where they absolutely must have a hard surface—sidewalks, parking lots, etc.—they’re using special concrete bricks that allow water to seep through. And a growing number of municipalities are scrutinizing properties and charging owners fees if they have excessive impermeable surfaces like pavement, thus incentivizing the switch to permeable surfaces like plots of native plants or urban gardens for producing more food locally.

So the old way of stormwater management isn’t just increasingly dangerous and ineffective as the planet warms and storms get more intense—it stands in the way of a more beautiful, less sweltering, more sustainable urban landscape. LA, of all places, is showing the world there’s a better way.

-via Wired, February 19, 2024

[mccarthyplumbinggroup]

Case Study – EPA Site Improvement Notice on Dangerous Chemical Storage

How to assess and maintain controls to reduce environmental pollution risks at your commercial premises

Site Improvement Notice given by Environmental Protection Authority Victoria

How do you safely store over 5 million litres of expired hand sanitiser, one of the waste products of the Covid Pandemic? That’s the question one of our industrial clients in Melbourne had when they came to us for a plumbing consultation and rectifications after receiving an EPA (Environmental Protection Authority Victoria) Site Improvement Notice on their facility.

Our client had received a contract to store a gargantuan amount of expired hand sanitiser in large containers. The sanitiser, classed as dangerous goods, is comprised of 60% alcohol, meaning it is out of date 3 years from manufacturing date. The chemical is highly flammable and must therefore be stored appropriately.

Storing Expired Hand Sanitiser is a Nationwide, and Worldwide, Problem

In June 2023, Cleanaway received a fine for $18,492 by the EPA for accepting hand sanitiser without recording and reporting the waste. In this example, the EPA stated that ���we have fined the company $18,492 for its records management failure. It’s a reminder to all businesses to track and record wastes in line with EPA publication 1827.2 Waste classification assessment protocol.”

Again in September 2023, Cleanaway received an EPA fine for transporting hand sanitiser without properly logging the movement of the chemicals. The $30,000 fine was due to the company again not recording the sanitiser as a reportable priority waste (RPW) on the EPA’s Waste Tracker System.

WA Today recently reported that the WA Health Department recently contracted Cleanaway to collect, transport and dispose of 130,000 bottles of expired sanitiser at a cost of $187,000. The NSW education department contracted Cleanaway to do the same a few months back at a cost of $536,000.

Achieving EPA Site Compliance for our Client

Our client was contracted to store 5 million litres of expired hand sanitiser. The sanitiser is currently housed in a 25,000m² newly built storage facility. The client received an EPA Site Improvement Notice requiring immediate rectification. They contacted McCarthy Plumbing Group for guidance as they were unsure of the process on how to achieve compliance.

In the initial stage of discussions on gaining EPA compliancy, we walk our clients through the process, variations and give examples of our history of EPA compliance rectification works. In this instance, the storage facility was being changed from a standard storage facility to a dangerous goods facility, given the contents of the containers (expired hand sanitiser including highly flammable ingredients such as ethanol).

As a part of the required facility upgrades in order for our client to accept 5 million litres of highly flammable chemicals, we needed to complete a site assessment to confirm the facility had been installed as per the builder drawings and was compliant. We needed to ensure there were no restrictions in access, depth and size of the existing pipes as this would pose risks and require additional safety processes and hazard prevention controls.

We obtained copies of the current ‘as built’ civil/stormwater drawings from the builder and thoroughly reviewed them. We also visually audited the site to confirm everything correlated as per the drawings.

Our main role in the rectification of changing the site from standard facility to dangerous goods facility was to ensure all stormwater points had isolation valves installed in the event of a spill, fire or other emergency. An isolation valve is a critical component in stormwater management. It allows for the rapid shutdown of the stormwater system in emergency situations, preventing potential environmental hazards and ensuring the safety of personnel and the facility. Stormwater isolation is crucial to prevent dangerous goods and contaminants from entering the stormwater drainage system during emergencies such as spills or leaks.

The two isolation valves used were selected based on our site audit and conditions. We conducted a Dial Before you Dig to get a site map of existing legal points of discharge (LPoD) from the site to cross reference with the civil/stormwater drawings. The emergency stormwater isolation valves were then installed using the following process:

Prepare the base of the pit and apply concrete filler to create a smooth surface for valve to bond to.

Install fasteners to the face of the pits in preparation for the valve installation.

Organise franna crane to lower valves down into position.

Secure valve to face of pit.

Extend isolator shaft to ground.

Provide signage and valve key to isolate in the event of emergency.

After installation, a custom 15 page standard operating procedure manual was created and site training occurred for select team members. The training ensured team members could isolate the stormwater drains using the valve in the case of an emergency.

The EPA carried out a site inspection, in which our installation was compliant, and our client achieved the required rectification for the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) within three weeks of receiving a site improvement notice, ensuring no further breaches or fines.

I’ve been issued with an EPA Improvement notice, what do I do now?

McCarthy Plumbing Group will act as ‘first responders’ in assisting you with assessing and maintaining interim controls given to you by the EPA Authorised Officer. These controls may include capping of legal points of discharge to the stormwater outside of your boundary, installing isolation valves, educt and clean contaminated stormwater pits, assist in nominating an Environmental Consultant, installing bunding, clear stormwater pipes for assessment with a hydro-jet, assess stormwater collection using CCTV drain cameras, and give general plumbing and stormwater advice.

We can then assist your chosen Environmental Consultant to action the tasks in your site improvement notice and/or stormwater management plan including engineer control to stop trade wastewater/chemicals discharging beyond the boundary of the premises, design a stormwater management system (this can include preparation of groundworks/sealing, surface water controls, flow directions, drainage, sumps, pumps, valves, retention volumes, pipelines, legal point of discharge and attenuation systems).

If you have received an EPA site improvement notice, compliance notice or any other remedial notice and require assistance in navigating the requirements to achieve compliance, McCarthy Plumbing Group can assist in preventing further or potential water pollution occurring from your site by assessing and controlling risks to stormwater drains past your legal point of discharge.

We are situated in the Laverton North industrial area in close proximity to Kororoit Creek, Ryans Creek and Cherry Lake and are geographically central in location to assist businesses across Melbourne’s west and inner suburbs in ensuring stormwater management system compliancy. We are expert environmental protection plumbers working collaboratively with environmental consultant plumbing experts. To discuss your site improvement plan and stormwater management plan queries on 03 9931 0905.

[nnctales]

Porous Concrete: Exploring the Various Types and Applications

Porous concrete, also known as pervious concrete, is an innovative and sustainable material that has gained significant attention in recent years. Its unique composition allows water to pass through, making it an excellent solution for managing stormwater runoff, reducing flooding, and promoting groundwater recharge. This article delves into the different types of porous concrete and their…

[acornecstormwaterstuff]

Part 1 Navigating the TPDES Multi Sector Permit: Unraveling Signatory Authority and Delegated Signatory Introduction:

In this series we are going to cover the six fatal flaws commonly found during an industrial stormwater inspection. Hopefully, the series will allow EHS and Industrial professionals some insightful knowledge that will reduce their facility’s risk of non-compliance or enforcement actions. If you have a burning questioning that you think would benefit others, please let us know below! Navigating…

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #25

June 28-July 5 2024

The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Is putting forward the first ever federal safety regulation to protect worker's from excessive heat in the workplace. As climate change has caused extreme heat events to become more common work place deaths have risen from an average of 32 heat related deaths between 1992 and 2019 to 43 in 2022. The rules if finalized would require employers to provide drinking water and cool break areas at 80 degrees and at 90 degrees have mandatory 15-minute breaks every two hours and be monitored for signs of heat illness. This would effect an estimated 36 million workers.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced $1 Billion for 656 projects across the country aimed at helping local communities combat climate change fueled disasters like flooding and extreme heat. Some of the projects include $50 Million to Philadelphia for a stormwater pump station and combating flooding, and a grant to build Shaded bus shelters in Washington, D.C.

The Department of Transportation announced thanks to efforts by the Biden Administration flight cancellations at the lowest they've been in a decade. At just 1.4% for the year so far. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg credited the Department's new rules requiring automatic refunds for any cancellations or undue delays as driving the good numbers as well as the investment of $25 billion in airport infrastructure that was in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The Department of Transportation announced $600 million in the 3rd round of funding to reconnect communities. Many communities have been divided by highways and other Infrastructure projects over the years. Most often effecting racial minority and poor areas. The Biden Administration is dedicated to addressing these injustices and helping reconnect communities split for decades. This funding round will see Atlanta’s Southside Communities reconnected as well as a redesign for Birmingham’s Black Main Street, reconnecting a community split by Interstate 65 in the 1960s. 

The Biden Administration approved its 9th offshore wind power project. About 9 miles off the coast of New Jersey the planned wind farm will generated 2,800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power almost a million homes with totally clear power. This will bring the total amount of clean wind power generated by projects approved by the Biden Administration to 13 gigawatts. The Administration's climate goal is to generate 30 gigawatts from wind.

The Biden Administration announced funding for 12 new Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs. The $504 million dollars will go to supporting tech hubs in, Colorado, Montana, Indiana, Illinois, Nevada, New York, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. These tech hubs together with 31 already announced and funded will support high tech manufacturing jobs, as well as training for 21st century jobs for millions of American workers.

HHS announced over $200 million to support improved care for older Americans, particularly those with Alzheimer’s and related dementias. The money is focused on training primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and other health care clinicians in best practices in elder and dementia care, as well as seeking to  integrate geriatric training into primary care. It also will support ways that families and other non-medical care givers can be educated to give support to aging people.

HHS announced $176 million to help support the development of a mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccine. As part of the government's efforts to be ready before the next major pandemic it funds and supports new vaccine's to try to predict the next major pandemic. Moderna is working on an mRNA vaccine, much like the Covid-19, vaccine focused on the H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses, which experts fear could spread to humans and cause a Covid like event.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Vermont has become the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other extreme weather.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott allowed the bill to become law without his signature late Thursday, saying he is very concerned about the costs and outcome of the small state taking on “Big Oil” alone in what will likely be a grueling legal fight. But he acknowledged that he understands something has to be done to address the toll of climate change.

“I understand the desire to seek funding to mitigate the effects of climate change that has hurt our state in so many ways,” Scott, a moderate Republican in the largely blue state of Vermont, wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

The popular governor who recently announced that he’s running for reelection to a fifth two-year term, has been at odds with the Democrat-controlled Legislature, which he has called out of balance. He was expected by environmental advocates to veto the bill but then allowed it to be enacted. Scott wrote to lawmakers that he was comforted that the Agency of Natural Resources is required to report back to the Legislature on the feasibility of the effort.

Last July’s flooding from torrential rains inundated Vermont’s capital city of Montpelier, the nearby city Barre, some southern Vermont communities and ripped through homes and washed away roads around the rural state. Some saw it as the state’s worst natural disaster since a 1927 flood that killed dozens of people and caused widespread destruction. It took months for businesses — from restaurants to shops — to rebuild, losing out on their summer and even fall seasons. Several have just recently reopened while scores of homeowners were left with flood-ravaged homes heading into the cold season.

Under the legislation, the Vermont state treasurer, in consultation with the Agency of Natural Resources, would provide a report by Jan. 15, 2026, on the total cost to Vermonters and the state from the emission of greenhouse gases from Jan. 1, 1995, to Dec. 31, 2024. The assessment would look at the effects on public health, natural resources, agriculture, economic development, housing and other areas. The state would use federal data to determine the amount of covered greenhouse gas emissions attributed to a fossil fuel company.

It’s a polluter-pays model affecting companies engaged in the trade or business of extracting fossil fuel or refining crude oil attributable to more than 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions during the time period. The funds could be used by the state for such things as upgrading stormwater drainage systems; upgrading roads, bridges and railroads; relocating, elevating or retrofitting sewage treatment plants; and making energy efficient weatherization upgrades to public and private buildings. It’s modeled after the federal Superfund pollution cleanup program.

“For too long, giant fossil fuel companies have knowingly lit the match of climate disruption without being required to do a thing to put out the fire,” Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, said in a statement. “Finally, maybe for the first time anywhere, Vermont is going to hold the companies most responsible for climate-driven floods, fires and heat waves financially accountable for a fair share of the damages they’ve caused.”

Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are considering similar measures.

The American Petroleum Institute, the top lobbying group for the oil and gas industry, has said it’s extremely concerned the legislation “retroactively imposes costs and liability on prior activities that were legal, violates equal protection and due process rights by holding companies responsible for the actions of society at large; and is preempted by federal law.”

“This punitive new fee represents yet another step in a coordinated campaign to undermine America’s energy advantage and the economic and national security benefits it provides,” spokesman Scott Lauermann said in a statement Friday.

Vermont lawmakers know the state will face legal challenges, but the governor worries about the costs and what it means for other states if Vermont fails.

State Rep. Martin LaLonde, a Democrat and an attorney, believes Vermont has a solid legal case. Legislators worked closely with many legal scholars in crafting the bill, he said in statement.

“Most importantly, the stakes are too high – and the costs too steep for Vermonters – to release corporations that caused the mess from their obligation to help clean it up,” he said.

[elminx]

Since I have seen a lot of posts about correspondences in witchcraft going around again, I wanted to stop for a minute and talk about how correspondences work and why you might want to make sure that you understand the correspondences you are using in your own craft.

This is likely an oversimplification, but I think that we can break down correspondences into three main categories:

Cultural Correspondences - these are often heavily steeped in the mythology and folklore of a particular region. They are often but not always correspondences of items found in that region. This is where correspondences become the most varied because, despite what you may have read in Those Bad Witchcraft Books, culture is not universal. A great example of this is that most Western cultures associate the color black with Death and Mourning but a lot of non-Western cultures have the same association with the color white. It stands to reason that this type of correspondence will work the best for you if you are sticking as close to the correspondences of the bioregion that you grew up in as possible (1) and that they will be most effective when used magically on somebody else from that bioregion (2).

Material Correspondences - these correspondences are based on the physical properties of the item in question. Some plants are edible, some medicinal, and some poisonous. Things with thorns can hurt you when you touch them. Quartz has high levels of electric conductivity. The idea here is that if Rosemary repels insects, it can be used in a banishment spell to repel that unwanted "insect" from your life. These are, in my opinion, the immutable correspondences - the item you are using will ALWAYS carry its physical characteristics with it into your magic. Spicy peppers will always be Hot and Burning, so-called "Weeds" will always grow tenaciously, and Sugar will always be Sweet. It is worth keeping in mind here that when using plants, the part of the plant may affect whether it carries that correspondence. Sometimes only one part of the plant carries a particular property - consider the difference between the sweet scent of rose petals that we use in love spells versus the sharp thorn that would be better used for protection. 3. Sympathetic Correspondences - The base concept behind sympathy is that two things that are alike in some way share a connection with one another that can be harnessed magically. The more alike that two things are, the deeper the connection. There are many ways that this is used in magic. A lot of herbal correspondences involve sympathy through the Doctrine of Signatures. This is the thought process that anything shaped like an ear can be used to affect ears/hearing magically. The Doctrine of Signatures gets rolled in a little bit with Cultural Correspondences as it is heavily rooted in Western herbalism, but it deserves a mention on its own. Another way that sympathetic magic makes its way into correspondences is the idea that an object from a particular place carries some of the energy of that place which can be harvested for magical intent. You see this in the use of bank dirt in money spells or cemetery dirt in baneful magic. This is also where Holy water, moon water, and stormwater come into play - here we are assuming that something that has been done to the water (being blessed by a priest, charged in the moon, or collected during a storm) carries an inherent energy that can be then transferred to your spell. Depending on your viewpoint, you may or may not agree with the concepts of sympathetic magic.

And that's the whole point of this. Witchcraft, as a whole, isn't the sort of path where you are supposed to proceed based entirely on blind faith. If you're flipping to a certain page in Scott Cunningham's infamous Green Book and finding the first money herb you come across to use in a spell, you are probably doing yourself a disservice. I suggest that you look closer. Not only will the physical correspondence change how your spell manifests (I've written about this before) but you may find that you don't even BELIEVE or AGREE with that correspondence at all. And maybe that's not important to you (but if that's true, why are you even reading this?). But I suggest that it should be. That understanding of a correspondence deepens your connection with the energy of the item you are looking to use. Moreover, exploring it further may give you all sorts of juicy ideas for spellwork to augment that energy.

Do you like my work? You can support me by tipping me on Kofi or purchasing an astrology report written just for you.

[gryficowa]

Boycott!

You know what sucks? That AI on YouTube gets a million views, and many great creators get almost nothing… And the fact that YouTube belongs to Google, which supports fucking Israel

Now that I have your attention:

[cognitivejustice]

What is Green Infrastructure?

Runoff from stormwater continues to be a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. It carries trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants through storm sewers into local waterways. Heavy rainstorms can cause flooding that damages property and infrastructure.

Historically, communities have used gray infrastructure—systems of gutters, pipes, and tunnels—to move stormwater away from where we live to treatment plants or straight to local water bodies.  The gray infrastructure in many areas is aging, and its existing capacity to manage large volumes of stormwater is decreasing in areas across the country. To meet this challenge, many communities are installing green infrastructure systems to bolster their capacity to manage stormwater. By doing so, communities are becoming more resilient and achieving environmental, social and economic benefits.

Basically, green infrastructure filters and absorbs stormwater where it falls. In 2019, Congress enacted the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act, which defines green infrastructure as "the range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters." 

Green infrastructure elements can be woven into a community at several scales. Examples at the urban scale could include a rain barrel up against a house, a row of trees along a major city street, or greening an alleyway. Neighborhood scale green infrastructure could include acres of open park space outside a city center, planting rain gardens or constructing a wetland near a residential housing complex. At the landscape or watershed scale, examples could include protecting large open natural spaces, riparian areas, wetlands or greening steep hillsides. When green infrastructure systems are installed throughout a community, city or across a regional watershed, they can provide cleaner air and water as well as significant value for the community with flood protection, diverse habitat, and beautiful green spaces.

[headspace-hotel]

Do yk of any annoying plants (annoying for an hoa, sterile city planner, in the oh God we've sprayed pesticides on it four times how does it keep growing) I could put into a seed bomb? I know mint can be annoying in a garden but im not sure if its the best thing for the ecosystem. Idk if this is a strange question. I've been researching a bit and ik you're kinda a plant fella on here so I thought I'd ask anyways (south coastal USA, near gulf of Mexico)

Alright so here's the thing:

Seedbombing an area that is heavily maintained and treated with pesticides and herbicides: ranges from pointless to potentially harmful. The toughest plants nature has to offer are the first to show up in disturbed areas, and they don't need human help to get around.

At best, you're not really doing anything, at worst, you're leading to more pesticides and herbicides getting sprayed than before.

Seedbombing an area that might see occasional maintenance but is mostly neglected and ignored: GOOD. GREAT. What you're doing basically is re-introducing extirpated species, which can have a cascade effect on the rest of the surroundings.

Places like this might include the side of a drainage ditch, a roadside, a little empty lot set aside for stormwater drainage, just those forgotten little areas that get weedy.

You have a ton of biodiversity on the coast that isn't present here, so this will be your own quest mostly, but here's some guidelines for what you're looking for:

Native species (please do not spread invasives, and the benefits of non-natives generally are limited)

Suited to the site you want to try seed bombing (wet and soggy areas host plants suited to wetlands, drier areas have different inhabitants)

Herbaceous plants (nothing that could interfere with underground wires or pipes, so no trees or shrubs sorry)

Vigorous self-seeder that spreads by wind (because you want it to spread)

Germinates and blooms the same year (so it can reach the point of producing seeds)

A lot of plants that fit the above criteria will be annuals.

Spring or early summer blooming plants are a good idea, simply because they are more likely to survive to reseed and to be noticed by people who might think they're pretty and want to preserve them.

There are many species of milkweed. Find a few that are native to your area and mix them in. This is because they will attract monarchs, the general public is at least marginally aware of monarchs as endangered, and thus milkweeds will have a protective effect on everything else on the site.

Include a large variety of seeds. Biodiversity, and also higher success rate.

Good luck in your endeavors.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from DeSmog Blog:

The pungent smell of oil woke Gerald and Janet Crappel on the morning of Saturday, July 27. Stepping outside their home on the banks of Bayou Lafourche in Raceland, Louisiana, they spotted the fumes’ source: crude oil from Crescent Midstream’s Raceland pump station was gushing into the picturesque waterway, sparsely lined with homes and fishing boats, via a stormwater canal directly across from their home.

The oil’s fumes were thick that morning. “It choked you,” Gerald told DeSmog correspondent Julie Dermansky, who documented the incident as it unfolded. Before cleanup crews contained the spill, reportedly 34,000 gallons of crude oil, a slick stretched for eight miles, just past the area’s drinking water system.

According to the spill’s Unified Command of federal, state, local, and company representatives, results from “continuous air quality monitoring” were well below “actionable” levels and “indicate that there is no anticipated risk to human health” and the public water supply was safe to drink. That messaging didn’t change throughout the duration of the spill and the cleanup efforts that followed. However, a DeSmog investigation raises questions about whether the environmental monitoring conducted was robust enough to make such determinations.

The Crescent Midstream oil spill, relatively small compared to the state’s more notorious spills and other industrial accidents, represents a microcosm of the larger issues with transparency and accountability from regulators and their close relationships with, and reliance on, those responsible for environmental disasters. Time and again, this leaves those impacted by any pollution events, like those who live along Bayou Lafourche who were exposed to the fumes from the spill, wondering what was in the air and what long-term impacts, if any, the spill may have on the environment and their health.

From the first day, the Unified Command sought to reassure residents that robust air monitoring indicated, despite the powerful stench in the air that sickened some, that the oil spill didn’t pose a threat to human health.

The vast majority of the reported air tests were done by a controversial contractor, CTEH, hired by Crescent Midstream, the responsible party. At a Unified Command press conference just before 3:00 p.m. on the first day of the spill, a Crescent Midstream spokesperson described deploying crews right away to monitor the air for anything that “might be unsafe for the public.” “None of them have reached the level of concern for the general public,” Crescent’s Michael Smith said of the early air readings. 

Yet the public still has no access to the air test results referenced at that press conference. The first publicly available readings reported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the lead federal agency in the Unified Command, were collected late in the day on July 27, just as stormy conditions shut down the spill response for that day. 

Days later, the Unified Command directed the public and the media to an EPA StoryMap on a website devoted to the spill. Inexplicably, though it reported a couple dozen test results from the evening of the first day of the spill, the EPA reported no air test results for the day after the spill and the first date for a publicly available air test collected by Crescent Midstream’s contractor, CTEH, is over 48 hours after the oil spill, on July 29.

[tiredwitchplant]

Water and Plants

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Plants are powerful and come with different abilities and meanings. However, plants would not grow without their counterpart; water. In this post, I will be showing you the different types of waters , their meanings and different water plants that could be useful to use in green or water magic.

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Different Types of Water:

Dew Water – difficult to collect; is used for love magic or offerings to the fey or Faery world

Glacier Water- water from glacier; used to provide your magic with clarity and a connection to the ancients

Hurricane water- stormwater; bring quick and sudden change, justice, protection, and is considered to give extreme power and strength

Lake Water- bring calm, peace and joy; is used for workings concerning self-reflection and self-assessment

Ocean Water: water from the ocean; different oceans give different vibrations; used in offering to water deities

Pond Water: best from a local pond; is used for creating opportunities, self-discovery, and relaxation

Rainwater: believed that may rainwater is the best; is used for blessings, cleansings, prosperity, love workings, and other types of magic

Snow Water: represents purity and change, during Yule season is when the snow water is most powerful

Spring Water: is influenced by the surrounding spirits of the place where it was collected; associated with newness and bounty

Storm Water: powerful force; used to strengthen spells and workings, protection, motivation and rebirth; can also be used for hexing, cursing, and revenge work

Swamp Water: has a mind of its own; helps with binding, banishing, hexes, curses, and revenge workings

Urban (Tap) Water: contains the energy of the place it is collected; can give prosperity, luck, high energy, and used for curses and hexes

Waterfall Water: creates newness and rejuvenation

Well Water: used for granting wishes, healing, and connecting to otherworldly beings

Water Plants with Great Benefits

Water plants with great benefits:

Apples -Love, Romance, Passion, Divination, Psychic Connection, Healing and Offering to Hel

Bay- Protection, Psychic Powers, Healing, Purification, Strength

Coconut- Purification, Protection, Chastity

Ivy- Protection, Healing, Luck, Banish Negativity

Lotus- Protection, Lock-Opening, Spirituality

Pomegranate- Fertility, Prosperity, Abundance, Money, Protection, Divination, Knowledge, Wisdom

Rose- Love, Psychic Powers, Healing, Love Divination, Luck, Protection

Sage (Cooking Sage) - Immortality, Longevity, Wisdom, Protection, Wishes

Sandalwood (White) – Love, Meditation, Peace of Mind, Safety

Spearmint - Healing, Love, Mental Powers

Thyme- Health, Healing, Sleep, Psychic Power, Love, Purification, Courage

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Thank you for reading my post. I hope chu are able to use this information to good use. Bye byes~

[a-shade-of-blue]

I've been asked by Marah (@freepaleatine95) to share her family's gfm campaign.

Marah was a uni student studying computer engineering but her university has now been bombed. Her brother and her father's businesses were also destroyed, and they are now left without an income. Their home has also been destroyed and they have lost their beloved pet kittens.

This is not the first time their lives have been upended by the occupation army. They have lost their brother in 2006 after he was shot in the chest. And now at the hands of Israel, they are facing homelessness, a scarcity of basic necessities, in addition to frequent bombings! They have had bombs dropped 3 meters away from where they were sleeping before, and have watched the remains of their neighbours dug out from under the rubble.

They are now living in a flimsy tent. With the coming winter and the pouring rain these few days, rain has leaked into their tent. Their belongings have been flooded and their meager flour provisions have been destroyed. Marah's elderly parents are sick and suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure. With the cold and the rain and their flooded tent, they do not know how they are going to survive the coming winter... Please donate to help them buy a new insulated tent as well as supplies like coats and blankets! A new tent can shelter them from the cold and the rain, as well as any overflowing sewage, which is vital to protecting them from diseases and keeping them safe!

This campaign has been vetted by 90-ghost!

Currently $13,442 USD raised of $50,000 goal