CEE Researchers Secure NSF Grants for Transformative Stormwater Projects
Both projects would have a measurable impact on their respective communities.
Flooding and runoff pollution are serious issues in the United States, explains CEE Professor Branko Kerkez. With 4 to 6 billion dollars in annual damages, flooding can disrupt communities through the adverse effects they cause — both physically and environmentally. Simultaneously, large quantities of pollutants wash off into water bodies, leading to algal blooms and degraded ecosystems.
Digital Watersheds
Kerkez, along with CEE Associate Professor Aline Cotel, Professor Jeff Scruggs, and Associate Research Scientist at the Institute for Social Research Noah Webster, have initiated a research project that will push the boundaries of watershed management. In collaboration with staff at the Huron River Watershed Council, the team has secured a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), “Smart Watersheds for Conservation and Resilience.” They propose the construction of a digital watershed — a landscape covered by connected sensors, whose data are analyzed to manage water flow — in the Huron River Watershed. This project would aim to solve acute water resource challenges in southeast Michigan, such as nonpoint source runoff pollution and degraded ecological habitats, and would allow rural and urban dam operators to coordinate flows between each other. The outcome of the project will be digital tools and sensors, which can be used by dam personel to operate the river in a coordinated and more natural way.
The Huron River Watershed contains 20 major dams, lakes and reservoirs that are actively managed and controlled, and the water releases the dam operators conduct are guided by local needs, such as recreational use, flood control and environmental regulations. These uncoordinated dam releases have created challenges for downstream communities and ecosystems. “This project is about building decision support systems for water managers, making their jobs easier and creating more natural conditions for the river,” said Kerkez of the digital watershed project.
A Green Way Forward
Additionally, Kerkez has been involved in proposing a second grant, awarded by the NSF for 1.55 million dollars. The project “Governing Green Stormwater Infrastructure for Just and Adaptive Urban Flood Management” seeks to mitigate stormwater flood risks in the Detroit Metro Area (DMA). Collaborators on this project include Assistant Professor Sara Hughes and Professor Joan Nassauer both from the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS).
Stormwater flooding is a particular concern for older post-industrial cities, like Detroit, that face intensifying precipitation events along with aging stormwater infrastructure, combined sewer systems, declining populations and high levels of social and economic segregation. The grant proposes the implementation of Green Stormwater Infrastructure in the DMA, a natural solution to stormwater flooding and runoff issues.
“Green infrastructure is about transforming urban landscapes to natural systems that reduce flooding,” said Kerkez. “It’s not just concrete and steel; it’s about nature-based solutions.”
In the case of the DMA, stormwater flooding is not only an issue of infrastructure but of equality.
“Already marginalized communities are situated in low-lying areas and are hit disproportionately by floods.” The findings from the proposed Green Stormwater Infrastructure would be used to support local and regional stormwater management decisions and justice-centered futures all while centering and advancing the needs of DMA residents.
“This project is about empowering residents in Detroit to exercise their own expertise in designing a city they envision,” Kerkez said.
Digital Tools for Stormwater
Both the digital watershed and Green Stormwater Infrastructure proposals are projects that would have a measurable impact on their respective communities. Those impacts would be immensely beneficial in the long run, informing future research and investments. But residents of communities where these projects are being conducted will also see positive changes taking place in real-time.
“This research is not just about discovering something new that will be used ten to twenty years from now,” said Kerkez. “It’s about rolling out tools almost from day one for people to use.”
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