The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) just released its Stormwater Park Guidance Manual. Stormwater Parks are engineered spaces that allow stormwater to infiltrate and often provide the additional benefits of recreation, biophilic density, and community gathering space. The work was completed by our colleagues and friends at AHBL.

Nine stormwater park examples are listed on the PSRC website. This is great news as climate change fluctuations are intensifying storms, making floodable, attractive community spaces a responsive strategy. In our Puget Sound recovery work, we place a high value on supporting green infrastructure and ensuring that rapidly densifying areas have access to natural, community gathering space.

This work was funded through the National Estuary Program where the EPA is investing millions of dollars in Puget Sound Recovery. The Washington Stormwater Center and The Department of Commerce work on the Stormwater Strategic Initiative Lead Team which funded this work (award PC-01J18101, led by The Department of Ecology).

For more international context please explore the links below. Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) is the vernacular used to describe infiltration techniques:

https://lgiu.org/floodable-parks-as-a-tool-for-local-flood-resilience/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1573062X.2014.916314

And, let’s remember to explore life with a different lens as well through place-based tourism:

https://www.kimkim.com/c/explore-history-water-netherlands-5-days

If you have any questions please reach out to Erika Harris or Heidi Siegelbaum.