Sunday, November 11, 2007
Discussion Blog No. 3 Infrastructure Proposal
In Nowhere City, the population is growing at a rapid rate. There are also new industries that are also coming into the area, some which will use need a large amount of water and may over burden the sewer system. Mayor Smith has requested the Planning Department to develop strategies to ensure that the existing infrastructure will not be overburdened. The Executive Director of the Planning Department assigned to you the task of drafting a memorandum of approximately 2 pages outlining the process that the city should take to address this pressing problem. Write a well constructed memorandum detailing this process.
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Nowhere City became in the recent years a prosperous place – we are owing that to market- and socialfriendly policy of local government. Nowhere City is now attractive destination as both residential and industry area. Due to the development, we experience rapid growth, which is causing benefits - as well as threats, especially those connected with infrastructure.
The problems which our city is facing nowadays or can meet in the future are, among others:
- sufficient water supplies,
- adequate sewerage systems,
- extension of road network,
- providing inhabitants with social facilities.
Solving the infrastructure problems is essential for further development of our city, as it gives both market and social value to the properties within its borders.
1) PRESENT AND FUTURE SITUATION ANALYSIS
The first step we need to take to ensure the concurrency policy, is making capacity and demand analysis concerning existing infrastructure. For that purpose we need:
a) maps showing infrustructure network,
b) technical information, which allows us to describe the existing system’s capacity,
c) demographic data (including birth and migration rates) – for estimation of the future demand for infrastructure facilities, and also
d) industry plans and strategies of the city.
The predictions based on this data will enable us to extend public structures concurrently with occuring development.
2) PREVENTION ACTIONS TO BE UNDERTAKEN:
a) in environmentally senstive areas on the northern edge of Nowhere City (The Emerald Hill Park): limitation of new appearing ifrastructure – that will prevent urbanisation and industrialisation in valuable nature sites, which we and our descendants should benefit of;
b) in areas which are predicted to experience higher-density development: replacement of individual septic systems by central sewage treatment plants - because individual septic tanks are sufficient only in certain envionmental conditions (e.g. soil types) in scattered rural or suburban areas ;
c) industry development: giving permission for new industry only under certain conditions, which are: submitting regular assessment of waste capacity in industrial processes and paying fines for exceeding the assumpion. The industry with its own closed water circulation should be privileged.
3) MAINTAINIG AND UP-DATING DATABASE – in order to control urban sprawl in terms of public facilities.
The steps mentioned above should be seriously considered in order not to waste the opportunities that our city is given now but to use them reasonably.
References:
Kaiser E.J., Godschalk D.R., Chapin F.S., Jr., 1995, Urban Land Use Planning, University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago
To: Major Smith
From: Executive Director of the Planning Department
15. November 2007
Subject: The protection of the sewer system from overstraining in Nowhere city
Introduction:
Nowhere city is a prosperous urban region with growing socio-economic standard. The economy find well conditions for their purposes. At the moment, the present amount of skilled labour is sufficient and the space and infrastructure is available for all kinds of development.
But the currently measured rate of economic growth is being assumed sustainable. Also the increasing population will be continuing. The prognosis of experts reasons a steadily rising demand on adequate water supplies besides other infrastructural demands.
These facts are leading us to the question which steps are necessary to prevent the infrastructure from overstraining. In particular, the provision of water and in return the waste water infrastructure. The existing pipework is adequate for present needs. If we think about future developments, it will be important to discuss and identify strategic steps that give a clue to avoid already emerging problems.
Summary:
1)Identification of present water sources
2)Restoration of the existing pipework
3)Sensitisation of the inhabitants
4)Assignation of new water reservoirs
The first step that should be taken is identifying existing reservoirs. Important in this case is the exact location. Afterwards efforts will be necessary to prevent these available source from contamination by land use changes and other harmful impacts in these areas.
The existing pipework supplies the inhabitants sufficiently but studies stated that there are leakages in more than 40 % of the tubes. The planning department should concentrate its efforts on eliminating that common water waste. The efforts in this case may include research where the leakages are and rebuilding the pipework in affected areas. This step will lead to a decreasing amount of total water consumption. Besides the reduction of the total amount it directs to an efficient use of the rare commodity.
Afterwards, the inhabitants should be sensitised by local authorities to use the supplied water carefully. If the population recognise the problem they will use the resources more efficient. To support the above mentioned step, we advise the municipality to consider the current price for water. If the population feels that water is expensive and a rare product they will conserve it. To achieve that goal, providing information how to save and use water efficiently and showing paths to the people is mandatory. For example, People can use rainwater for watering their gardens or it can be used for toilets. The authorities should support efforts of building rainwater cisterns with subsidies.
Furthermore it is essential to find new water reservoirs close to the city and its infrastructure. The total amount of the available water from all water reservoirs won´t be enough for the future, according to the existing analyses and studies. The municipality should instruct specialists with this problem. The goal of these researches must be the identification of available and exploitable water resources. Examination regarding water quality, total amount of water in the reservoirs, distance to the existing pipework of the city and at least it has to be in line with the law.
As we saw there are a lot of possible solutions to this pressing problems. The responsible authorities must meet the challenges of present developments and needs of the inhabitants of Nowhere city. It is possible to solve the task but just with joint action of all involved groups.
Nowadays Nowhere City is facing serious problem: urban sprawl, increasing attraction of the city, economic boom and related with this new locations of big industry in the city. Thus large amounts of water is needed. Metropolitan sewer system is not well prepared for such a situation. What shall we do to be certain that sewer system will not be overburden? I would very like to advise to undertake following actions:
- media, such as radio and television should organizate an anticonception campaign
- increase price of water to reduce its usage and relate this price to demand. Income from this tax ought to be spent for enlarging sewerage system.
- create spatial managment plan. It will include restrictions for developers. There should be special area for building new houses in particular place in ourskirts. All this area would have its own wastewater treatment plant which would not comunicate with existing sewer system. It is essential that this area will be located relatively near area of new industry – city imigrants who are about to work in these industries would probably live there. The rest of the city outskirts should have higher price to build and should be rather extensive. The price would provide locating new housing areas in particular zones. Another area would be industry zone. City should not bar new industry from location within city borders and consider such location as a large oportunity. However, in terms of care of number of people living in the city too much industry with huge environmental impact must be restricted. It is compulsory to attract only industry which is developing and will have positive impact on city’s budget and development – so-called lame-ducks cannot be allowed to locate. The industry has strategical meaning for city development, but also is willing to overburden sewer system. Thus not only is the city goverment obligated to give sweeteners (such as tax benefits for first few years) for high-tech and well-developing industries, but also order them to locate in clusters to provide self-sewer systems with self wastewater treatment plant, which cannot communicate with the city sewer system. This mean that, in case of overloading metropolitan sewer system, industries should have their own system which will be closed system. If for some reasons it’s not possible to use closed sewer system for some kind of industries (e.g. there is no option to produce particular products with not-drinking water) finding antoher source of water for metropolitan area should be considered. In spite of looking for second source of water, ideas which were pointed out here cannot be abandoned. A placement of these zones should be considered by geographers and enviormental scientists (e.g. to locate this zones in eastern part of city, in terms of majority of west winds, to reduce air pollution).
- More over some researches should be undertaken to optimize usage of water (e.g. to use some of the water cleaned by wastewater treatment plant for watering farming fields).
Subject: The protection of lake of Nowhere city from overstraining the sewer system in Nowhere city
A decade ago Nowhere city opened a deep tunnel sewer system to help eliminate sewage releases into Lake Nowhere city, the city's source of drinking water.
But recently the city and some suburbs dumped 4600 tonnes of untreated sewage after heavy rains, angering residents, environmentalists and Nowhere city’s big-city neighbor to the south.
Nowhere city’s sewage dumping is typical of a problem like other big and developing cities.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that as much as 86 billion tonnes of sewage are dumped a year into rivers and lakes in nationwide.
Mayor Nowhere city has ordered a system that runs sewer improvements and upgrades.
A broader tunnel system can be designed that holds sewage and water until treatment plants can clean them of biological contaminants that cause disease and pollutants such as fertilizers from yard and street runoff. Biological contaminants eventually die, but runoff pollution doesn't.
Most of Nowhere city’s sewage flows to plants through a sanitary system, which has separate pipes for rain runoff and wastewater from homes. The rest flows through an older combined sewer, which has one pipe to capture everything.,
Most of what was dumped after heavy November rains was from the combined sewers, which were designed to overflow so sewage won't back up into basements.
Sometimes sewage is not treated or only partially treated to remove contaminants but still released, often after heavy rains. Building broader tunnels is only part of the solution. The government should prohibit sanitary sewer overflows.
Sumeyra Kurt
Executive Director of the Planning Department, 20. November 2007
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