Soil erosion is one of the world’s biggest environmental concerns. The problem is not limited to any locale—in fact, it’s a widespread problem that affects both urban and rural settings. The good thing with the latter is that they have nature to protect them. Coastal wetlands, such as mangroves, help in mitigating soil erosion during disaster, and play a key role in stabilizing coastlines. Urban settings don’t typically have that level of protection working for them.
How mangroves work
Mangroves help protect shores and coastlines in three ways: Firstly, each kilometer of mangrove can reduce storm surge levels by up to 0.5 meters. Secondly, the first 100 meters of mangroves can reduce the height of high wind and swell waves by 13 to 66 percent. Lastly, they help stabilize sediment by capturing it directly and depositing organic matter through their active growth.
Protecting the urban setting
Fortunately, there is a way to prevent urban soil erosion: by way of man-made stormwater BMP like StormChamber. These devices take advantage of the conventional stormwater basin, effectively collecting water from the surrounding area in order to prevent flooding, erosion, and other types of soil damage. Further, the devices can retain water and allow a portion of the stormwater runoff to infiltrate back into the ground. What makes them truly unique, though, is their ability to release water from the retention area at a slow, controlled rate.
An urban erosion case by the numbers
The benefits of urban growth come with dire consequences to environmental sustainability, and the massive erosion observed by coastlines all over the world are proof of that. Canada’s Golden Horseshoe in particular, experienced 30 meter maximum recession with an increasing 19.8% urban sprawl between the decade of 1990 and 2000. The alarming soil erosion rate leads to the importance of policies and measures aimed at mitigating the common problem of erosion in the growing urban regions of North America.
Using an effective storm water BMP, like those from StormChambers, is a viable solution to the urban world’s growing erosion problem. Correctly installed, these only require light maintenance in order to function properly. Contact a stormwater runoff expert to learn more about how you can benefit from the use these devices.
(Source: NEWS: How Mangroves Help in Reducing Flooding and Coastal Erosion, Wetlands)
