We have been getting flow and water quality monitoring of campus green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) going at PennState- University Park campus. We are monitoring several lined and unlined bioretention basins for inflow and outflow hydrology, as well as sampling soils across all sites to quantify accumulation of metals.
We also will be evaluating co-benefits provided by GSI, such as aesthetic benefit, and will be evaluating maintenance effort and costs associated with GSI, in hopes of optimizing environmental benefit and financial cost.
We have also expanded monitoring efforts to commonwealth campuses, including PSU Harrisburg, as well as to partner municipalities such as Lancaster. Specific efforts in Lancaster include field monitoring of the impacts of de-icing salts on metals and nutrient retention of stormwater bioretention basins, as well as broader evaluation of ecosystem service provision of multiple types of green infrastructure in Lancaster.
A key component of this effort to make Penn State a ‘living lab’ for stormwater research is to integrate this work into ongoing courses and develop new training and outreach opportunities.
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