PSU graduate students examine current stormwater practices & future implementation at PSU with the uncertainty of climate change

Being situated in downtown Portland, stormwater management is an important consideration for PSU’s urban campus. PSU released its Stormwater Management Plan in 2005, but with the uncertainties posed by climate change the University is due for an updated plan. Graduate students Alexandra Vargas & Evan Suemori in the Professional Science Masters program in the Environmental Science Department have spent the last two years working on a project that will allow them to make recommendations to the University on how the Stormwater Management Plan should be updated. 

Vargas & Suemori aim to accomplish three goals with their project. First, a complete inventory of stormwater infrastructure on campus, looking at campus’ existing green infrastructure, impervious surfaces, etc.. Then, using that data, they are able to run scenarios using the EPA SWMM model that analyze the efficacy of PSU’s existing stormwater management system. Lastly, with this information Vargas & Suemori are able to make recommendations to the University by identifying areas on campus that would benefit from new stormwater management infrastructure, such as green roofs. 

“PSU needs better management of stormwater, but we need data first,” explains Vargas, “we are going to give the University our data so they can use it to make decisions.” Managing runoff is a critical issue for planners due to the pollution that drains into water bodies from urban areas, in PSU’s case runoff drains into the Willamette River. “Stormwater is an incredibly prevalent environmental impact in urban systems but the least talked about,” explains Suemori, “we’re hoping through this project to inform those at PSU and other urban planners about the effects of stormwater, it should be taken into consideration.” 

So far, the preliminary results of the project look promising and suggest that implementing more stormwater infrastructure on campus will lead to less damaging effects from runoff. As Vargas & Suemori wrap up their project at the end of PSU’s spring academic term, they are hoping to establish a baseline understanding of PSU’s current stormwater management system so future students can continue building on this work. 

This project also comes as PSU works to finalize the recertification process for being a Salmon Safe University, a program that assesses the University’s practices around water and land management to protect local watersheds.