Hello,

We have curated some of the top news stories in the stormwater industry from this past month, as well as a few other items of interest. We appreciate you taking the time to read our ezine and hope that you find this stormwater related news as interesting and informative as we do.

Sincerely,
The Construction EcoServices Staff

Ranking Texas Cities on Nature-based Stormwater Management  
environmenttexas.org

The County (including HCFCD) ranks 3rd, behind San Antonio and Austin tied at first place. The scoring percentages don’t really make sense. but what’s important is that our HC and HCFCD programs are receiving good attention, and its clear we’ll need to keep feeding similar organizations this information. You may be interested to see that the City of Houston ranked 8th.

LIDBit – Video Series with Rob Woodman, PE from ACF Environmental
youtube.com

One of the gurus of the stormwater industry, Rob Woodman from ACF Environmental is starting up a VLOG (a regularly posted to series of short videos). Rob is a highly respected voice in the industry, so this is a great opportunity for all to actually hear his voice and see some of his more unique, interesting stormwater installations. The first two videos are posted and are filled with great info. Do subscribe to his YouTube channel and follow him on LinkedIn.

How Conservationist Designers Are Reacting to Climate Change
architecturaldigest.com

A big part of the answer, says Bishop, entails thinking about rural areas even when designing urban ones, both for the sake of creating more green space and for helping urban communities feel more closely connected to—and therefore accountable for—rural areas. “We have to ask ourselves, can we change a parking lot to a forest?” says Bishop. “Or, can we have a parking lot and a forest?”

Reshaping the Future of the Water Industry
waterworld.com

The concept of the Silver Tsunami — a generation of workers retiring from their jobs and taking their institutional knowledge with them — is a familiar challenge for many public-sector agencies. But the scale and scope of the issue facing the water and wastewater industries outpaces those in other similar fields. According to various studies, as many as 3 million workers will need to be replaced over the next decade due to retirements in the water and wastewater industries. That amounts to roughly one-third of the total national workforce.

EPA Proposes Tougher Rules to Monitor Industrial Runoff
estormwater.com

EPA said the draft proposal would streamline and simplify language throughout the permit process, reported Transport Topics. The changes could also require that permit holders consider implementing enhanced measures for facilities located in areas that could be impacted by storm water discharges from major storm events that cause extreme flooding conditions.

EcoServices’ Houston Stormwater Bus Tour 2020

It’s time again for another Construction EcoServices Bus Tour of some of Houston’s most unique stormwater projects. We’ll be touring numerous stormwater projects throughout Houston metro. This tour will feature visits to cutting-edge, in-the-ground projects, many featuring Low Impact Development (LID) solutions. This learning experience focuses on the construction, operations, maintenance and monitoring of real-world projects – but let’s not forget about the fun and networking.

Our products partner, Hydro International, is offering our contractor friends a great offer, automatically save $1000 off your next water quality structure by using a First Defense® Hydrodynamic Separator instead of an alternative separator.

Advantages Worth Noting:

• smaller unit compared most other separators (cost-effective, saves space, less digging, etc…)
• comes pre-assembled
• extremely easy to install
• variable configurations (connect up to multiple pipes, large degree of freedom)

One of Our “Small” Projects Wins Big

The Bayou Place erosion control project completed last summer keeps getting major industry kudos. The latest – the other week, it won Profile’s International Project of the Year. Pitted up against many other projects that flat out dwarfed the size and scope of the Bayou Place project, Construction EcoServices won the votes because of the many unique aspects making up the project.

1. The site was in downtown Houston (the 4th largest city in the US).
2. The site was only accessible via the Buffalo Bayou Walkway (wide enough for only small hauling and dirt work equipment).
3. The site was below street level and spanned almost two football fields – therefore, all the hydraulically applied products had to be pumped from a truck parked on the bridge above (right from where the second picture was taken) and through a 500 foot hose.
4. And the real kicker, Tropical Storm Imelda blew into town just months after project completion (the 5th wettest tropical cyclone on record in the US), flooding the site once again right up to the building’s foundation. However, once the water receded, it was clear that the erosion solution CES put into place held up perfectly.

Profile Products Used:

• Proganics
• Green Armor System

Check Out the Project Video:

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the 3-minute, drone-based video we created documenting the project.

Memorial Park Land Bridge Project: Stage #1, Post #2

Mentioned in Post #1, the test plots were finished over a month ago now and already there is a performance standout among the various plotted options of mulch, compost and seed mix. The bright green, fully filled-in strip is the plot using Programics, an engineered topsoil alternative developed by Profile. While there is plenty of time left in the trial period for the other options to kick in, Progranics is ahead by a good length.

Stay tuned for continuing updates on this stage of the Memorial Park Master Plan, as well as future construction stages.

We offer stormwater consulting and value-engineering services, turnkey SWPPP compliance services during construction activity, erosion control solutions for slopes and channels, and post-construction compliance services for stormwater management systems for detention and stormwater quality treatment. Need help? Contact us today.