USING SOCIAL SCIENCE DATA TO EVALUATE RESIDENTIAL STORMWATER TREATMENTS IN DULUTH, MINNESOTA

摘要

Stormwater affects fresh water resources by carrying pollutants such as vehicle wastes, road salts, pet waste, and grass clippings to streams, and by causing flooding downstream. In cities, stormwater flows across impervious surfaces and into underground storm sewer pipes to nearby water bodies. Cities manage stormwater using infrastructure, planning, regulations, and education and outreach activities to promote responsible stewardship practices (e.g., rain gardens). The City of Duluth, Minnesota, faces significant challenges in managing urban stormwater. Duluth's storm sewer system includes 431 miles of underground pipe, 12,000 catch basins, 5000 manholes, 3000 culverts, and numerous ponds and sediment basins (Kleist et al, 2011b). Duluth is built on steeply sloping hills and clay soils atop shallow bedrock, and has 44 named streams, including 16 designated trout streams. In Duluth's Lakeside neighborhood, stormwater drains into a branch of Amity Creek (Figure 1), a trout stream impaired for turbidity, and ultimately into Lake Superior.