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Thermal Pollution Mitigation in Cold Water Stream Watersheds Using Bioretention
Author(s) -
Long Daniel L.,
Dymond Randel L.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/jawr.12152
Subject(s) - bioretention , environmental science , surface runoff , stormwater , low impact development , thermal pollution , environmental engineering , hydrology (agriculture) , pollution , stormwater management , geotechnical engineering , engineering , ecology , biology
This study examines the use of bioretention as a strategy to reduce the thermal impact associated with urban stormwater runoff in developing cold water stream watersheds. Temperature and flow data were collected during 10 controlled runs at a bioretention facility located in Blacksburg, Virginia. It was determined that bioretention has the ability to reduce the temperature of thermally charged stormwater runoff received from an asphalt surface. Significant reductions in peak and average temperatures ( p < 0.001) were observed. However, this facility was unable to consistently reduce the temperature below the threshold for natural trout waters in Virginia. The ability of bioretention to reduce runoff volume and peak flow rate also serves to reduce the hydrothermal impact. An average thermal pollution reduction of nearly 37 MJ/m 3 was calculated using an adopted threshold temperature of 20°C. Based on the results of this study, it was concluded that properly designed bioretention systems have the capability to reduce the thermal impact of urban stormwater runoff on cold water stream ecosystems.