Many communities in Florida, such as Lake Mary and St. Lucie County, see water as a resource to harvest and recycle, so they base their ordinances on the need to conserve natural stores of fresh water. These communities understand it is a wise water policy to reuse water for landscape irrigation purposes. Collier County on the west coast and Volusia County on the east coast both require on-site storm water management and have standards that call for the design of on-site storm water facilities.

Some of the new Georgia codes are directed toward sustaining tree canopy, preventing soil erosion and allowing rainwater to filter back into the ground. These codes call for a certain density of trees on all development sites and this density provides space for storm water capture. Carolina tree ordinances are being written to establish a certain number of trees per acre. These codes are concerned with canopy standards, shade requirements and tree preservation and in each community these planted or preserved landscape area can be used for storm water management as well.

In Louisiana, the small community of Hammond, just northwest of Lake Pontchartrain, has enacted the state?EUR??,,????'?????<

Chapel Hill, North Carolina sets an example of how storm water management can be central to good site design. Chapel Hill?EUR??,,????'?????<

Santa Monica, Calif. has a sustainable city plan it adopted on September 20, 1994 and updated in October of 2006 to establish sustainability targets to meet by 2010.

A Prediction

This trend is an obvious prediction for the future of all landscape codes. But even more so when the country?EUR??,,????'?????<

New York City recently adopted similar regulations as part of Mayor Blumberg?EUR??,,????'?????<

The New York City landscape code requires open parking areas to be graded to allow storm water runoff to drain into all planting islands and perimeter landscaped areas. Planting islands are to be designed to have inverted slopes to allow a minimum six inches and a maximum of one foot of stormwater capacity. Surface water collected here must drain or infiltrate within 24 hours. Planting islands are to be constructed of soil with a depth of at least three feet measured from the surface of the adjoining open parking area. Beneath such soil, filter fabric and six inches of gravel shall be provided to ensure rapid drainage. Proper drainage rates are attained through underdrains that are connected to detention storage that meets the drainage and flow requirements of the Department of Environmental Protection or through infiltration through the surrounding soil volume. To allow for overflow, elevated catch basins are designed in the planting island in case the design storm is exceeded. A six-inch raised slotted curb is designed to edge the planting island and allow inflow.

It is my prediction that on-site storm water management will become a standard part of community landscape codes in the years ahead, and EPA Phase II storm water regulations will be phased in across the country. Green laws will make blue water.

D.G. ?EUR??,,????'?????<