In 2007, the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County enthusiastically supported the development of a local guidebook for developing sustainable streets and parking lots. In January 2009, the first edition guidebook was released and made available for easy download. This guidebook is intended to inspire small but widespread changes that will improve San Mateo County's watershed health.

Sustainable streets integrate sustainable design principles, promote least-polluting ways to connect people and goods to their destinations, and make transportation facilities and services part of livable communities. The guidebook covers a wide range of topics, including: site layout and stormwater facility strategies, discussion on key design and construction details, and conceptual designs for demonstration projects being constructed in the county. The goal is to provide designers, builders, municipal staff, and other interested groups with practical and state-of-the-art information on creating low-impact development roadways and parking lots within San Mateo County.

Roads and parking lots provide critical opportunities for managing stormwater because they often constitute as much as 70 percent of the total impervious cover in ultra-urban landscapes. Small amounts of rain throughout a watershed incrementally add up to large volumes of water downstream. In addition, small changes to stormwater runoff treatment in a watershed can cumulatively result in significant improvements to overall watershed health. For this reason, the site-scale stormwater management strategies described in the guidebook are at the core of creating balanced watershed systems.

Pic: www.californiagreensolutions.com

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