Research Design Connections
Studies examine tools for stormwater management, forestry management, and pedestrian safety.

By Sally Augustin

Landscape Architecture, in partnership with the web-based newsletter and daily blog Research Design Connections, uses this column to report current research of interest to landscape architects from a wide array of disciplines. We welcome your comments, suggestions about future topics, and studies you have encountered in your own practice.

New Tools to Manage Stormwater—Without Structures

Nonstructural measures to manage stormwater quality and volume—physical, regulatory, or educational—are becoming increasingly common in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. In a recent study, researchers Andre Taylor and Tim Fletcher identified four nonstructural tools that have the greatest potential value for stormwater-management agencies. The authors also present an evaluation framework to assess the performance of these methods.

The researchers define nonstructural stormwater-quality management tools as “[i]nstitutional and pollution-prevention practices designed to prevent or minimize stormwater pollution and/or reduce the volume of stormwater requiring management. They do not involve fixed, permanent facilities, and they usually work by changing behavior through government regulation, persuasion, or economic instruments.”

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