Urban communities deal with many environmental issues such including high amounts of pollution, urban heat island effect, and the excess of stormwater run-off. Stormwater run-off is a growing problem that urban communities must deal with immediately. Stormwater run-off is the remnants of rain water that are collected of roofs, streets, and gutters in cities that are not properly returned back into the hydologic cycle. From the creation of rain gardens to the produciing of green roofs, cities are trying different methods for the containment and restoration of stormwater. Since urban areas are made up of mostly impervious surfaces, rain water remains on streets and in gutters and eventually becomes stagnant. The garbage and waste that collects pollutes the run-off and ultimately makes it unusable. Philadelphia is a great example when it comes to properly dealing with stormwater run-off. For the past couple of years, Mayor Nutter has been attempting to green the city of Phildelphia. This greening of the city includes maintaining stormwater. Mayor Nutter along with the municipal government of Philadelphia believes that our water needs extreme improvement. They have implemented many new policies to help boost the quality of our water. Many new gutter systems replaced old one that were not as innovative and effective as the new ones. These new gutters maintained water to help eep it fresh and reusable. Along with new gutter systems, new garden areas were created. The gardens allowed for the absorption of rain water back into the Earth. New permeable surfaces replaced impervious surfaces. Permeable surfaces, or surfaces that were able to be penetrated, like grass and soil, let rain water enter back into the Earth. Like Mayor Nutter, many other cities' lawmakers are implementing new policies to improve the quality of not just our water, but of our Earth. Nutter is doing a good job of boosting the quality of our waters, and overall our environment. http://www.phila.gov/green/greenworks/pdf/GreenworksExecSummary.pdf

Rain gutter system