Water Conservation And Stormwater Talk At RCC

Sustainable water management in Rockland County will be the focus of presentations by Stuart Braman of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and Simon Gruber of the Hudson Valley Regional Council at Rockland Community College on Tuesday, April 2. Their presentation, "Green infrastructure and water conservation: steps toward sustainable water management in Rockland County" is part of the college’s Science Lecture Series.

Gruber, who works in the council’s Green Infrastructure program, will give an overview of green infrastructure strategies for managing stormwater. Green infrastructure is described as a set of planning and design principles, technologies and practices for managing stormwater runoff, reusing water and protecting water quality. Examples of green infrastructure practices are rain gardens, pervious pavement, trees, rain barrels and cisterns for capturing rain for reuse, and green roofs.  He will include an overview of concepts, trends and case studies of green infrastructure in the mid-Hudson region. 

Braman will discuss water conservation research in Rockland and other areas. He will review completed and ongoing projects that could provide opportunities for achieving additional reductions in water use in Rockland based on the county’s demographics, current water use patterns and other factors.  Two recent Columbia University Sustainable Development Workshops studied the potential impact of increased water conservation in the county, experiences of communities around the country in adopting such programs and potential conservation scenarios for Rockland. 

Braman and Gruber co-wrote a paper together about water supply, conservation and planning issues in Rockland.  Gruber said the information is relevant to current water supply planning initiatives.  The “Water Conservation and Long-term Water Supply Planning in the Hudson Valley: A Rockland County Case Study” can be read online 

Their presentation from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Academic I, Room 1106, is open to the public and on-site parking is available in any student parking lot on campus without any permit.  The West Student parking lot is the largest lot and is most likely to have space.