In the United States, dealing as we have been with our
particular regulations—the Clean Water Act for more than 30 years, and, for many
of us, Phase II of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System for the
last five and a half—we tend to forget that not everyone is governed by the same
rules and driven by the same concerns. “Stormwater” in other places has a very
different connotation—or perhaps, by that name, none at all, not being separated
out from the rest of the water cycle to the extent it is in the US.
We’re thinking globally in so many other arenas—especially
the financial one—that it makes sense we should do so in this one as well.
Although the use and management of water resources doesn’t always have the
repercussions across borders that the management of money does, it’s often
helpful to take a step back and see how others are looking at the same problems.
For those of you working outside the US, or who have
experience living, working, or teaching in different countries, how is
“stormwater” perceived by the average person? Here, especially under Phase II,
we put a lot of emphasis and effort—not always successfully—on public education,
sometimes taking surveys to ask people if they know what a watershed is, and so
on.
What sorts of manufactured stormwater treatment devices are
available? How widely used are they, and in what circumstances? What about all
the practices—relatively new to some in the US, but old as rainfall
elsewhere—that we lump under the label “low-impact development”?