New HLS report offers assessment of regional and municipal stormwater management

In June, Harvard Law School’s Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic and the Environmental Policy Initiative released a new report “Regional and Municipal Stormwater Management: A Comprehensive Approach.”  Stormwater runoff is a significant source of water pollution in the United States. In the most recent National Water Quality Inventory, states reported that stormwater pollution has impaired more than 22,559 miles of rivers, 701,024 acres of lakes, and 867 square miles of estuaries.

The HLS report analyzes options for addressing stormwater pollution at both the regional and municipal level, encourages the adoption of green infrastructure by municipalities as a stormwater pollution reduction strategy, and recommends that municipalities consider participating in a regional program as a comprehensive and cost-effective way to address stormwater pollution.

Part of the Clinic and Policy Initiative’s ongoing green infrastructure pilot partnership with EPA, the report was written by Clinic Director Wendy B. Jacobs and Policy Initiative Director Kate Konschnik.  The following students also contributed to the report:  Dakotah Burns ’15; Tsuki Hoshijima ’15; Carl Lisberger ’14; Sean Lyness ’15; and Chrystel Marincich ’15.