Could permeable pavement ease flooding woes in New York City?

Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

It can’t help cities control the weather, but by slowing the flow of stormwater, permeable pavement can lessen flooding from big storms.

This story was originally published by Reasons to be Cheerful.

Among the kosher markets, eateries and synagogues of Brooklyn’s Borough Park neighborhood, a quiet transformation is underway. On a recent overcast Saturday, the intersection of 37th Street and 12th Avenue looked like any other intersection in the area, surrounded by single-family homes and parking garages. But an important measure to mitigate mass flooding was implemented here last month, when New York’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) began to install seven miles of permeable pavement along curb lines.  

Pavement covers so much of the urban landscape, but most of us probably don’t think much about how it impacts the flow of water through our cities — until a hurricane or big rainstorm hits, and stormwater runs swiftly right off of it. The catastrophic flooding that hit parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut last weekend was the latest example of how sudden and dramatic the impact of such storms can be. 

When storms produce widespread torrential rains, floods from storm surge can cause serious damage to our sewer systems. As we approach the peak months of the Atlantic hurricane season, the risk for flooding and storm surge increases. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projected that the 2024 hurricane season would be above normal, and rapid hurricane intensification has become more common in recent years

But experts suggest that permeable pavement could help cities across the United States improve their stormwater resilience. Already, cities and counties like Cleveland, Kansas City and California’s Orange County have put permeable pavement to use to comply with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s stormwater regulations. In Borough Park, it’s being strategically installed along curb lines — where the street meets the sidewalk and water drains toward catch basins. 

According to Elizabeth Hiser, a stream restoration ecologist for Cleveland Metroparks, permeable pavement is designed to get water back into the soil, as a way of mimicking what greenery would have naturally done before there were driveways, parking lots, streets and roofs. 

In urbanized systems, water runs off and it does not absorb into the ground. Permeable pavement can help recharge and decrease the flow of runoff events. And unlike other interventions that might require pavement to be replaced by vegetation, permeable pavement can also help densely built cities keep what they already have: “One of the reasons cities like this practice is because you get a multi-use out of it. You don’t have to give up your parking, but you also get stormwater benefits, which are in demand in cities like New York,” says Hiser. 

Of course, permeable pavement can’t help cities control the weather, but by slowing down the flow of stormwater, it can help them absorb larger quantities of it.   

Before buildings and roadways, New York City was a wet, forested place. When storms came, wetlands were capable of capturing water, which would slowly permeate into the soil and eventually drain out into the waterways. But that was a long time ago, before New York was a dense, pavement-filled city. 

“We’ve built sewer systems to manage stormwater that’s falling down on the footprint of our city, but our system was built for a climate that no longer exists,” says Despo Thoma, a landscape architect and director of resilience at the New York-based firm SCAPE. “We are in a changed climate with way more extreme events and way more frequent storms. So what used to be a system that was able, in an ideal condition, to handle a storm event, cannot anymore.” 

Two major storm events in recent years brought home the city’s shortcomings: Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Ida in 2021. In 2012, the Rockaways in Queens were particularly hard-hit. And in certain communities in the southern parts of Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan, the subway system and road tunnels flooded when water rose above the normally expected high tide. Then in 2021, Ida’s extreme rainfall broke records. Rain fell faster than it could drain away through stormwater infrastructure, causing flooding, especially in basement apartments.

Thoma adds that in extreme rainfall events, “it’s hard for our sewer system to handle large quantities of water coming into it. Which means that parks, yards and streetscapes need to absorb water as fast as they can.”

In the future, permeable pavement could make a real difference. In June, New York City completed a $16.6 million infrastructure project in the Rockaways — among the communities most affected by flooding from Superstorm Sandy — which included 11,000 square feet of permeable concrete along curb lines, capable of absorbing almost 1 .3 million gallons of water  to prevent it from flowing into the sewer system. Other cities have also been preparing in recent years for extreme rainfall events by making themselves more “spongier”: In Los Angeles, nine inches of rain fell over the course of just three days in February. Thanks to the replacement of concrete with dirt, plants and “spreading grounds,” the city was able to capture 8.6 billion gallons of stormwater — enough to provide 106,000 households with water for a year. 

Rohit T. Aggarwala, New York City’s chief climate officer and commissioner of the DEP, said in a release that more projects like this will be implemented in the city in the coming years. The seven miles of porous road in Borough Park are just the beginning, with more green infrastructure planned for communities in the Bronx and Queens over the next two decades

Permeable pavement is only one part of the puzzle when it comes to improving the way water flows through cities like New York. “It’s about building layers of resilience in our cities in multiple ways,” says Thoma, “and then all together, it makes us more resilient so that we can withstand larger challenges.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.