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| Storm Photo by GEORGE DESIPRIS from Pexels |
An accomplished engineer and active mentor within the industry, Deanna Arrigo joined Roseville, California’s Ghirardelli Associates, Inc., in 2017 as a construction stormwater coordinator. In 2018, Deanna Arrigo expanded her role at Ghirardelli, taking on the position of assistant resident engineer.
The term storm water, more commonly written as “stormwater,” may sound like a redundant or pedantic way of referring to excessive rain and flooding. In fact, there are a number of key factors that impact the way professionals across a variety of industries respond to stormwater situations.
Stormwater begins as rain, snow, hail, or any form of precipitation falling from the sky. In undeveloped parts of the world, stormwater lands in natural bodies of water or on the ground, replenishing the earth’s surface as it is reabsorbed back into the water cycle. However, stormwater can take a very different path when landing in urban and metropolitan areas.
For instance, when stormwater lands on surfaces such as roads and roofs, the water is not absorbed into the ground, and instead moves across the surface, becoming “runoff.” Runoff is one of the most significant contributors to local water pollution, as stormwater picks up debris and various pollutants while traveling to the nearest penetrable surface. As runoff is ultimately absorbed, these pollutants may enter local waterways. Suburban stormwater runoff is further affected by the fact that natural filters (such as plants) cannot mitigate the level of pollutants present in the water.
Additional damage that can be caused by unmanaged stormwater runoff includes erosion and sedimentation. In some cases, flooding after a storm is the result not of excessive precipitation, but a waterway network ill equipped to deal with runoff.
