The concept of using rivers and watersheds as objects of focus for a region’s planning efforts may seem foreign to many. However, once one understands the extent of interconnectedness that rivers and watersheds have upon all the inhabitants of a region they will be able understand the imperative of using rivers and watersheds to base planning efforts. A watershed is best understood as a giant bowl that can span across an entire city, an entire county, or even across multiple states. Whenever it rains or whenever waste-water is dumped into a storm drain the water travels down the sides of this “bowl” through a series of small creeks and channels. The creeks and channels empty into larger and larger rivers until they finally empty into a region’s water bodies also know as lakes, bays, and oceans.
The imperative of using river and watershed based planning efforts becomes clear when one understands that any chemical or waste product that is on our roadways or parking lots will wash directly into the water bodies during a rainstorm. For example, the monitoring of runoff pollution in the Chollas Creek in Southeast San Diego revealed high levels of diazinon, coliform, cadmium, copper, zinc, and lead all due to non-point pollution (Sarabia 2007). Some may shrug and respond that they never visit Southeast San Diego; however, the polluted waters of the Chollas Creek are subsequently carried through Southeast San Diego and then pour directly into the San Diego Bay. Within the context of a watershed the pollution created by upstream cities A, B, and C rapidly becomes the problem of downstream users X, Y, and Z.
As politicians and environmental scientists face the growing threats of water scarcity, climate change, and non-point pollution an even greater understanding of how to effectively plan for these challenges will be needed. Students looking to further the understanding of watershed and river based planning could focus on any of the overarching areas, such as: understanding the problems or benefits caused by water related decisions, documenting the current efforts and solutions being used to address problems within the rivers and watersheds, and analyzing successful planning efforts that can be applied to other suffering watersheds. The issue of watershed and river based planning will only grow more imperative and continue to need the thoughtful consideration of all current and future planners.
Books, Articles, Papers
Walker, Dan. Thirst for Independence: The San Diego Water Story. Sunbelt Publications,
2004.
Water Scarcity: Impacts on Western Agriculture (1984)
Ernest Engelbert and Ann Scheuring; Berkely, University of California Press. BMP
Analysis System for Watershed-Based Stormwater Management (2006)
Jenny Zhen and Leslie Shoemaker; Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A
Toxic/Hazardous Substances and Environmental Engineering. Rapid Assessment of the
Cost-Effectiveness of Low Impact Development for CSO Control (2007)
Franco Montalto and Christopher Behr; Journal of Landscape and Urban Planning.
Pezzoli, Keith. 2000. Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) and regulatory
Innovation. California Western Law Review 36 (2): 335-365.
http://www.lastormwater.org/Siteorg/program/green.htm
Stormwater pollution, water shortages, flood control, climate change, and the availability of natural green space have all become pressing environmental issues for cities around the nation including the City of Los Angeles. This report examines low impact development (LID) for the City of Los Angeles and potential steps for instituting city-wide low impact development programs or projects to address many of these environmental concerns, especially those related to water management.
Web Resources - Links and Data
http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/cwa/ http://www.sandiego.gov/thinkblue/chollas/index.shtml http://www.chesapeakebay.net/”>City of San Diego - Encanto Community Plan
Center for Watershed Protection
EPA Watershed Academy
City of San Diego - Think Blue, Chollas Creek
Chesapeake Bay
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