Over the past forty years, environmental organizations have advanced a simple message to address complex global threats: Act locally. While the slogan imparts the conventional wisdom that global change begins with a series of local acts, it also highlights an often forgotten truth. Many environmental concerns are, in fact, local threats with local solutions. Make no mistake, local environmental threats combine to create regional, national, and international threats. Nevertheless, these threats are born locally, felt locally, and most effectively addressed locally. Stormwater pollution is a prime example of a local environmental issue. At the most basic level, stormwater pollution begins with a local decision to alter the landscape and disrupt the natural water cycle. By turning a natural area into a parking lot, rooftop, or lawn, communities alter the area’s hydrology and block natural infiltration. Over time, these local decisions reach a tipping point where stormwater shifts from being a resource to an environmental threat.
Keywords: water harvesting, policy, regulation, zoning, stormwater pollution, land use