23 September 2015

Headlines: Flash Floods, Free Sandbags + A Tool Kit ?

Imagesfrom Sept 2014 azcentral.com
On September 16, 2015 the Newsroom for the City of Mesa announced:
Mesa honored for environmental excellence
Post Date:09/16/2015 1:27 PM
The City of Mesa’s plan to reduce stormwater runoff and pollution has received one of the top honors at an event known as the “Academy Awards” of the environmental community. Mesa’s Low Impact Development (LID) Toolkit has earned the coveted Crescordia Award for Public Policy/Plans . . .
Readers might wonder what this "toolkit" is - it's a document, a .pdf plan to promote the benefits of Low Impact Development.
The concept and beneficial outcomes of Low Impact Development will get highlighted and encouraged on a future post on this  blog . . . meanwhile, the infrastructure that the City of Mesa brags about has failed - millions of dollars are thrown at cleaning up the problems and damages created by years of bad high impact development for fast growth - the city is not limitless. It's time to recognize that to plan on Smart Growth + Low Impact Development.
Underwater in the Desert Sept 2014

However, what we are seeing in the news and in videos are flooded streets and damaged homes from stormwater runoff that's the direct result of High Impact Development over years of building limitless highways, roads and housing subdivisions where the consequences can no longer be ignored . . . where residents and homeowners have been forced to sue the city of Mesa, the state of Arizona and the Arizona Department of Transportation for millions of dollars in damages due to bad planning. Free sandbags, anyone?
 
Headlines like these: [all have videos]
Mesa residents prepare for heavy rain, year after historic flooding

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