In a project funded by the National Science Foundation, the Sustainable
Water Resources Engineering Lab, led by
Franco Montalto, PhD
, professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, is
partnering with community leaders to engage urban residents in timely
maintenance of urban drainage systems.
Using a newly designed mobile app, the project would incentivize residents
of Marlton and Camden, New Jersey — both flood-prone areas — to clean storm
drains and green infrastructure (GI) inlets in their neighborhoods in
advance of forecasted precipitation event. The team predicts that the
just-in-time maintenance can improve the performance of the drains and GI
inlets, increasing both community opinions of the pieces of infrastructure
and investment in their success.
“Fostering new, meaningful opportunities for community participation in
stormwater infrastructure management connects the environmental and human
worlds in unique and important ways,” Montalto explained. “Projects like
these build urban adaptive capacity and promote sustainability and
resilience to extreme precipitation in an era of climatic change.”