From Your Voice
Green solutions offer cost-effective ways to manage storm water.
There are more cost-effective ways to manage storm water without flushing the polluted water and accumulated debris into underground piping systems running down to the nearest stream.
On Aug. 21, the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) unveiled their newest addition to the region's fight for a cleaner environment. TANK was able to pave its newest park-and-ride lot (off the Mount Zion exit of Interstate 75) with porous concrete.
By excluding some of the particles found in traditional paving systems, small holes are left in the concrete, allowing water to pass through and slowly seep into the underlying soil. As the water trickles into the ground, it undergoes a natural filtration process, cutting the frequency of sewer overflows and urban runoff.
TANK's new park and ride is not the organization's first development to showcase porous concrete. Roughly a year ago construction was completed on a porous park-and-ride on Ky. 17, and designs are in progress to integrate porous pavement at administrative headquarters in Fort Wright.
A couple steps south of TANK headquarters, we find the administrative headquarters of Sanitation District 1 encompassed by what they have deemed a "Storm Water Best Management Park." Including such innovations as porous concrete, permeable pavement, rain gardens, a giant cistern, a constructed pond/wetland and a beautiful green roof, the park has become the region's major educational source for storm water issues, frequented by schoolchildren and educators.
On the other side of the river good things are happening as well. OKI's Great Miami Runoff Reduction Project in Colerain Township's Heritage Park was completed in May. The park boasts a pull-off area with permeable pavement as well as several rain gardens, which have become home to many species of bugs and butterflies. OKI also plans to monitor the impact of the permeable surfaces on both water quantity and quality.
These projects are very exciting, yet at the same time, it is sad that to my knowledge the list stops at three. While Cincinnati seems to be making progress, we are way behind the rest of the country in storm water management alternatives and green building design.
Christine Robertson of Covington is a graduate student in community planning at the University of Cincinnati, with a concentration in sustainable development.
