#impervious surface

Urban areas bear little resemblance to the natural areas that once stood in their place. Concrete and asphalt stretch out for miles, buildings of all types tower above trees and shrubs, and turfgrass appears to dominate whatever open space there is. Understandably, it may be hard to imagine places like this being havens for biodiversity. In many ways they are not, but for certain forms of life…

Program will make cities ‘sponges’ for rainwater|Society|chinadaily.com.cn

China’s sponge city program will enable 80 percent of its urban areas to collect and recycle rainwater in the near future as the country rolls out a total investment of 86.5 billion yuan ($13.6 billion) over the next three years. Runoff flowing into a stormwater drain (Photo credit: Wikipedia) The sponge city campaign, which aims to turn urban areas into “sponges” to absorb and recycle 70 percent…