Flooding Rains Still Possible in Vermont

Just as a quick update, flooding rains are still in the forecast for Vermont and other areas of the East Coast tomorrow.  A tropical storm is expected to quickly form, and then zip north from South Carolina bringing heavy rain along its path.

*** note: images removed because they no longer are relevant - NWS has updated/changed the links. More info on the storm soon.***

These storm systems are small in size and hard to predict so this is not an easy forecast.  Needless to say, however, anyone from New York State south to South Carolina should be ready for the possibility of some very heavy rain.

I am hoping the downpour (if it happens) doesn't ruin the fall foliage!

Rainy times in Vermont

Rainy times have come to Vermont.  After a relatively dry late summer, fall is arriving, and is bringing copious rain.  As I type this it is raining outside, and it has been for most of the day.  It will be raining on and off for much of the rest of the week too, and if some computer models are correct, it could be very rainy indeed.

Four Mile Run Watershed Workshops; Change of Seasons.

If you live in the 4-Mile Run watershed or another urban watershed in Pittsburgh, you should consider attending these workshops!

Meanwhile, in Vermont, fall has arrived.  While it is not 'officially' fall for two days, this morning was greeted by 'almost-frosty' dew, ground fog, and slightly more fall color than the day before.  The changing of the seasons has become quite evident here, even though peak foliage is still quite far off.

Urban Seep Soil Science

This week I decided to investigate the urban seeps of UVM in greater detail.  Since seeps come from underground, it makes sense to look at the soil!  I took out one of our trusty soil probes and took some samples!  I'm not sure exactly what I found means, but it adds another piece to the seep puzzle.

Slow the Flow video

Earlier this week I went and did more investigation of the two urban seeps I mentioned last week.  I've got more to share about them... but in the mean time, I thought I'd share this video that was posted on the LA Creak Freak site.  It's called Slow the Flow and talks about ways to reduce runoff in Southern California.  While specific plants and other design elements may not work elsewhere (for instance, it does not snow in this part of southern California), the general ideas are very much relevant to any area with human-constructed structures.

I haven't watched it quite yet so let me know if you like it or not.  If it's a good video I'll have to link to it more in the future.

A Tale of Two (urban) Seeps

When I think of seeps, I usually think of water dripping down a mossy hillside in the forest.  All it takes to create a seep, though, is a place where water that soaks into the ground is forced out again, usually by bedrock or impervious clay beneath it.  Although they are less common in urban areas, because the presence of pavement and rooftops makes it harder for water to soak into the ground in the first place, they are sometimes found in the city, especially in cities that get a lot of rain and/or snow.

Great news for Panther Hollow and the 4 Mile Run Watershed!

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy just received a 1 million dollar grant to go towards restoring Panther Hollow Lake and the Panther Hollow Watershed!  Half the grant will be used to provide funding for a watershed management plan while the other half will go towards necessary management and maintenance projects.

Read more at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy website.

Bioswales near Jeffords Hall in Burlington, Vermont

The new Jeffords Hall building on the University of Vermont campus in Burlington, Vermont includes some landscaping designed to slow down runoff and infiltrate it into the groundwater.  Runoff from the area would otherwise probably end up in Centennial Brook, the Winooski River, and then Lake Champlain. 



This area collects water from a roadway.  It isn't really a rain garden since there are drains in the low spots, but this landscaping still allows some of the runoff to slow down and enter the soil.



close-up!


This large area has a small constructed 'creek' flowing through it.  I think it could have used a few more meanders but it is still a nice feature.

It has been fairly dry since I got back to Vermont, but I will be documenting how these features and others nearby respond to rainfall and snow.

Destruction of a Man-Made Lake

It has been well established that destruction of natural habitat can have a variety of negative social, ecological, and cultural effects. What about completely unnatural systems in a place they would never occur naturally? What happens when these are destroyed?  Although not natural ecosystems, they can still be very valuable to the local community.
These issues recently came up in the urban desert near Phoenix, Arizona, when Tempe Town Lake was destroyed by failure of an inflatable dam.

Exploring Centennial Woods

Located in Burlington, Vermont and adjacent to the University of Vermont, Centennial Woods is a small patch of nature (around 65 acres according to the university website) that is owned by UVM and used for research and for recreation by the public.  The woods are small and frequently visited, but they are full of very neat places to explore.  I wander around in this area as often as I can, sometimes several times a week, and during all seasons and types of weather.  It is one of my favorite places.  It also shares some interesting similarities to Schenley Park in Pittsburgh.

A few neat links about urban nature

Through some research and through people sending me links, I've found a bunch of neat websites I wanted to share here, involving urban nature and watersheds.  Check them out below the pretty picture of Lake Champlain.

Back in Burlington, Vermont

My summer visit to Pittsburgh has ended and I am back in Burlington, Vermont.  As I will be posting about Burlington as well as Pittsburgh on this blog, I wanted to give a bit of a background...


(Church Street in downtown Burlington during a fall rain)

Impressive Impervious Bridge Runoff Event

So there's a lot of talk about 'Impervious Surfaces' - areas such as roads and rooftops that cover large areas in cities and are impervious to water - meaning, basically, that water does not soak in when it hits them, but runs off instead.  I have definitely mentioned this in the blog before, but this far in Pittsburgh I hadn't been out in the park during a full-on summer downpour.  Yesterday, in my last few days in Pittsburgh for the summer, I was in the right place at the right time.

Fallingwater and Ohiopyle

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit Fallingwater, a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright near Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania.  This house was built to be fully integrated into the landscape, including a creek and waterfall.  Because I am interested in how people connect to their landscapes, especially in the case of flowing water, I thought this would be a great place to visit.

The information they gave me asked that pictures taken by the public not be put on the internet, so here's a public domain photo from Wikipedia:

Who Owns the Rain?

In most of the norteastern United States and adjacent Canada, there is abundant precipitation, and plenty of water.  In fact, the Great Lakes alone contain about 84 percent of North America's fresh water.  Most rainwater management consists of moving the water away from buildings and roads so it doesn't cause problems.  But what about places where water is scarce?  Do you own the water that falls on your home?