새 보고서에 따르면 저영향 개발 방식은 해당 장소의 자연 수문학을 모방한 소규모 방식을 이용해 빗물 관리 분야에서 현명한 접근 방식으로 인기를 얻고 있다. 빗물 유출에 대한 하나의 해결책은 투수성 포장이다. 이러한 투수성 포장 방식은 여과막, 도로 및 주차장에서 유출되는 빗물의 일부를 활용해 지하수의 표면에 침투시킨다.

텍사스 A&M AgriLife Extension Service의 수자원 관리 전문가 Fouad Jaberd[ 의하면 댈러스 포트워스(Dallas-Fort Worth) 지역의 땅은 대부분 포장되어있거나 물침투에 있어 불투과성 구조물에 의해 덮여있는 상태이다.

According to new reports, low-impact development is gaining popularity as a smarter approach to stormwater management using small-scale practices to mimic a site's natural hydrology.

One solution to controlling runoff is permeable pavement. This porous pavement filters and allows a portion of roadway or parking lot runoff to infiltrate the surface to recharge groundwater sources.

Much of the land in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, for example, is paved or covered by structures that are impervious to water penetration, according to Fouad Jaber, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist in water resources management.

Because of this imperviousness, the typical filtration and purification process conducted by soil and plants is sidestepped, he said. As a result, bacteria, sediments, oil, grease, pesticides, and fertilizer nutrients from yards, roads and parking lots end up running off directly into the Trinity River watershed.

As such, the North Central Texas Council of Governments created a program to reduce runoff from land-use developments and to educate local governments on the benefits of permeable pavements.

Infrastructure such as sidewalks, bike paths and parking facilities constructed or retrofitted with permeable pavements in place ease the strain on drainage systems by diverting a portion of surface water to groundwater reserves.

They are cost-effective because they reduce a development's dependence on swales (artificial dips or slopes in the surface designed to channel, filter and increase infiltration), retention ponds and other stormwater management tools.

[출처 = Water World / 2015년 8월 4일]