One solution to the problem of storm water runoff in our creeks, bays and sound.
Member Jack Gold put me on to this the other day and I have to share it, this is a game changer:
All of Southold’s roads were built so that they drain into adjacent low lying land or waterways. That was the technology for several hundred years. Within the last half century, growing ecological awareness began to change that methodology so that catch basins would capture the storm runoff and only the overflow in heavy rain events would drain into adjacent waterways. That’s better, but all the pollutants and garbage on the road still go into the drain and get carried into the creeks.
A better way
There has developed over the last 4 years a much better solution: PERVIOUS PAVEMENT. Concrete that allows water to drain through it. Concrete that soaks up water so that there is NO NEED for catch basins and culverts. Of course this technology is only applicable if the underlying soil is pervious and drains well. The soil conditions on the North Fork are generally sandy and pervious, so except for the areas of clay, I believe many of the road ends which now drain directly to the water can be corrected by the use of pervious concrete which will drain the road water before it reaches the creek. And, only the water drains away; the dog poops, cigarette butts and litter, stay on the road.
Picture the street in front of your house. Rather than those storm drains with culverts leading to the creek, bay or sound, picture a 20 or 30′ section of pervious concrete. I think this is a very exciting idea. Picture the 15′ “non turf” buffer the Trustees want behind your bulkhead. Rather than the American Cape beach grass you can have a pervious concrete deck allowing usable space for chairs and tables to enjoy your view.
Seeing is believing
Lillian Ball spearheaded a demo project at the end of Mattituck Creek at the Rt 48 launching ramp. They used recycled glass in this project but the result is the same, the run-off doesn’t go into the creek, it seeps into the ground. The websites below will give you more to think about how we approach correcting the problems of 370 years road construction on the North Fork, check them out! You will see 3 Youtube videos that should convince you. Here’s one of them:
Project by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s designated National Center for Excellence on SMART Innovations for Urban Climate and Energy at ASU (www.asusmart.com). Shows the construction of the pervious concrete parking lot and demonstration of its ability to allow water to pass through the pavement. (This video uses Youtube’s Privacy Enhanced Mode.)
Perviouspavement.org has videos showing the construction and testing of the UNH parking lot. Very impressive!
Greenconcrete.info has testimonials from Kentucky parking areas to Minnesota residential streets built with no drains.
And our diagram is courtesy of www.Percocrete.com
After seeing this, I question why, with all the federal push to create funding for infrastructure shovel ready projects, the NYS DEC isn’t advocating for the funds to utilize this technology.
John Kramer
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