The Challenges of Mitigating Hydrologic Impacts of Development: Lessons Learned in Dane County, Wisconsin

The examples of sustainable water management activities in the Madison, Wisconsin metropolitan area illustrate several challenges for mitigating hydrologic impacts. (1) A decrease in evapotranspiration with site development is a major water balance impact that has significant implications for using stormwater infiltration to maintain predevelopment groundwater recharge rates and runoff volumes. (2) Basing water management standards on the hydrologic and ecological condition of the watershed offers both advantages and challenges. (3) Groundwater withdrawals for water supply combined with diversion of treated wastewater create groundwater impacts that stormwater infiltration alone is unlikely able to mitigate. (4) On-site stormwater management must be integrated with regional water supply and wastewater planning to most sustainably manage water resources. Understanding and addressing these challenges can lead to new opportunities to improve water resource management at site-specific and regional scales.