What
is the Massachusetts Envirothon Current Issue?
In this component
of the Envirothon program, teams research a current environmental issue
as it occurs in their own community, then prepare a presentation on
their findings and proposed solutions. Each year the Massachusetts
Envirothon Committee takes the Canon Envirothon's Current Issue and
works to ensure that the topic is relevant to ALL Massachusetts communities.
Wide-ranging community research is encouraged, including field study,
interviews of scientists, advocates, local officials, and residents,
internet and library searches, map reading, and visits to town hall.
Many teams take what they learn in their current issue research and
apply it in a community action project. Any team that demonstrates
high research standards in their current issue work, or applies their
Envirothon learning in a service project, is eligible for an Envirothon
Community Award.
At the state competition in May, the team makes a presentation of their
Current Issue findings and recommendations to a panel of judges
(including natural resource managers, local and state officials, environmental
advocates, and others) who score them and provide helpful feedback on
their knowledge, proposed solutions, and presentation skill. A
highlight of the experience is the interaction between the teams and
the judges when the scoring is completed. After the morning competition,
teams have a chance to share their current issue research and community
action projects informally at a lunchtime "roundtables"
session.
What
is Sustainable Stormwater Management?
Water
– precipitating as snow or rain and then flowing overland, underground,
and down streams and rivers – plays an essential role in ecosystem
functions and human use of ecosystem services.
Our
many uses of the land – from agriculture and forestry to landfills
and lawns, and the impervious surfaces we create when we build malls,
roads, and housing – lead to a variety of water quantity and quality
problems. We have all seen floods of stormwater laden with pollutants.
Scientists
have documented increases in average annual precipitation across North
America in recent years. “Intensification of the water cycle”
– including more frequent and intense storms, and leading to more
frequent and more severe flooding – is an expected component of
climate change. These changes will only exacerbate stormwater problems.
Practical
solutions for stormwater problems range from changes in individual practices,
to innovative engineering, to government policies and regulations, to
a variety of combinations of all three. There are solutions we can implement
in our own backyards, and solutions that require everyone’s participation.
Some are more expensive, and some more long-lasting, than others.
“Sustainable
stormwater management” is one term for this growing environmental
field. Others include “non-point source pollution” and “low
impact development”. The central question is the same: How can
we manage our use of water resources, and our impact on the landscape,
in ecologically sound, economically viable ways?
Envirothon
teams will look for solutions that manage stormwater quantity and quality
as close to its source, and for as long a term, as possible.
2012
Mass Envirothon Current Issue Materials
•
Background
and Resources for Community Research (2012)
• 2011
Current Issue Problem (2012 to be posted March 15 2012)
• Presentation Score
Sheet 11 (2012 to be posted March 15 2012)
• Guidelines for Judging 11
(2012 to be posted March 15 2012)
• Mass
Envirothon Community Research and Action Awards web page for 2012
(including a checklist for community research)
• Roundtables at the Mass Envirothon
Debbie
Shriver (Mass Watershed Coalition)
Community Solutions for Stormwater:
Coaches workshop Sept 30, 2011
UMass
workshop presentations (10/28/11)
Paul Barten, UMass Amherst Department of Environmental
Conservation
Trees, Forests, Water... and Low Impact
Development
Summary of Key Hydrological
Characteristics in Forested Watersheds
Land
Use Effects on Streamflow and Water Quality in the NE US Fig 8.8
Masdar Fellows Water Balance
Lara
Aniskoff, UMass Amherst Department of Environmental Conservation
Down the Drain...What are Combined Sewer
Systems
Websites/articles
Stormwater
footprint enters water bill equation in Philly
Philadelphia has a stormwater
problem, but that could change with its planned green infrastructure.
Instead of building bigger tunnels to handle overflows, the city is
adding rain barrels, increased vegetation and "sponge-like roads"
to absorb more rain as it falls -- and it plans to charge not only for
the water that residents and businesses use, but also for how much they
contribute to runoff. Incentives are provided for green roofing, porous
pavement and other mitigating techniques. ScientificAmerican.com/ClimateWire
Relevant
Workshop Presentations from past years
David Ahlfeld, UMass Amherst
Dept. of Engineering
Stormwater Regulations: How they protect Wetlands
Paul Barten, UMass Amherst Department
of Environmental Conservation
Fish Grow on Trees: How
forests and wetlands influence aquatic ecosystems
Stormflow Routing Through an Upland-Wetland-Beaver
Pond System
UMass workshop
presentation slides
Why
forests provide the best protection for water resources (essay)
The conservation
of forests and water in New England . . . again (essay)
Overview of forest
hydrology and forest management effects overview (technical outline)
Effects
of development on groundwater (diagram)
Debbie
Shriver (Mass Watershed Coalition)
Community
Solutions for Stormwater: Protection for Surface & Groundwater
George
Zoto (Mass Dept of Environmental Protection)
Protection
of groundwater through urban, agricultural, and environmental planning
Mark
S. Bartlett, P.E.,(President-Norfolk
Ram Group)
Protecting our water resources
_______________________________________
Past Current Issues