Water Wonks Hour Lecture Series #7: The Effectiveness of Using Green Stormwater Infrastructure for Meeting Urban Challenges

Bio: Lee Marlowe is a restoration ecologist with over 25 years of professional experience working in the field of ecological restoration and natural resource management, including sustainable landscape practices and applications for improved ecological functions. Her expertise includes the use of native plants to provide wildlife habitat, biodiversity, water quality benefits, bank/site stabilization and aesthetic beauty in landscapes of all sizes. She is an experienced project manager and technical expert for projects incorporating sustainable design techniques including Low Impact Development, Conservation Development, Green Stormwater Infrastructure, and Nature-based Solutions including public and private development projects, parks, and conservation areas. She has been involved in all aspects of ecological projects including assessing, planning, designing, permitting, constructing, managing, monitoring, and providing public education and outreach. She has developed and implemented specialized training and educational programming on a variety of topics for both technical audiences and the general public.

Ms. Marlowe received her Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from the University of Minnesota and currently serves as the Sustainable Landscape Ecologist for the San Antonio River Authority as a member of the Engineering Department, providing ecological expertise to support a variety of projects and efforts. She is an active member of the San Antonio Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas, Network for Engineering With Nature, Texas Society for Ecological Restoration, Hollywood Park Tree Advisory Board, and the Land and Water Committee for Green Spaces Alliance.

Synopsis: The San Antonio River Authority has been promoting Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) practices for over a decade. As part of that effort, the River Authority has installed a variety of GSI practices on multiple urban properties to serve as demonstration sites showing the varied stacked benefits that can arise from GSI applications. In this session, Lee will highlight urban demonstration projects and their effectiveness at meeting many of our urban challenges such as stormwater pollutant loads, flow volume, and flow rates; as well as the lack of healthy ecosystems, wildlife habitat, native species biodiversity, and landscape resiliency typically found in urban environments.

The River Authority has been incorporating GSI practices at their two major urban office facilities through various retrofit projects that began in 2013. Projects and outcomes that will be highlighted include a test site for the effectiveness of high flow media for pollutant filtration and flow reduction of parking lot runoff, and examples showing the benefits of urban nature-based infrastructure projects incorporating local native plants that provide habitat for resident and migratory wildlife including species of international significance and unexpected species outside of their typical range. These demonstration projects are used by River Authority staff to provide additional beneficial outcomes through education and outreach that inform and inspire community-based resource stewardship and biodiversity conservation.