ELPC Helps Iowa Communities Put Together Green Design Plans

jgeiger — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:05:38 +0000

After being devastated by flooding, some Iowa communities looked to ELPC and others to make sustainable design part of their recovery. ELPC sponsored and helped to organize a “green design” workshop on December 11th for three Iowa communities — Waverly, Chariton and Ottumwa — that were either damaged in this spring’s record flooding or want to plan to mitigated harms from future disasters. ELPC worked with the American Institute of Architects, and the Iowa chapters of the U.S. Green Building Council, the American Planning Association and the American Society of Landscape Architects, to convene this event.

The workshop also coincided with a Disaster Recovery Conference organized by the Iowa Department of Economic Development. More than 45 professionals, including architects, engineers, planners and officials from a number of State and Federal agencies volunteered their time to help these community officials map out a sustainable path forward after disaster has struck. Volunteers will continue to be available as resources for these communities as they move to implement re-building plans.

Conserving Water

elpc — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:44:43 +0000

Metropolitan regions around the Midwest are expanding rapidly into neighboring farmland and natural areas, but few people are asking, “Is there enough water?” The allocation of water from Lake Michigan is limited by Supreme Court decree. Many areas on the fringe of the Chicago region are predicted to suffer water shortages within the next 20 years, but development is booming in those same locations. At the same time, new development is dramatically increasing demand for water and damaging the needed water supplies. Hundreds of thousands of acres of new parking lots, roads, and other impervious surfaces prevent rainwater from soaking into the ground and replenishing groundwater supplies – and the water that is able to soak in often ends up polluted by gasoline, oils, road salts, or fertilizers and pesticides from suburban lawns. Shallow aquifers are increasingly polluted, and deep aquifers become more contaminated by radon the further they are drawn down.

By 2020, a number of townships and municipalities in the Chicago region will not have access to a sufficient amount of water to meet growing demand. Most of these shortages are projected for the “outer counties” where rapid growth is occurring without consideration of the availability of, or impact on, water supplies and where rapid growth is also threatening water quality.

ELPC is working with key stakeholders in these communities to achieve three goals: (1) Promote smart growth planning policies and practices that will enable suitable development to go forward: (2) Protect vulnerable groundwater resources from contamination; and (3) Protect surface water resources in Northern Illinois rivers, lakes and streams from development pressures that can harm aquatic ecosystems. We believe that our efforts will increase the level of discussion about these critical issues and promote solutions that meet the growth and environmental needs of these communities.

Learn how you can conserve water and help keep our water clean.

Environmental Law and Policy Center » Water Conservation

ELPC Helps Iowa Communities Put Together Green Design Plans

Conserving Water