Group Examines Innovative Stormwater Ideas

Whether it's a snout, a grassy swale or an underground chamber to hold rainwater, regulators and construction engineers across the South Carolina’s Grand Strand area are trying new stormwater techniques. Their aim is to protect the coast and waterways from degradation caused by development.

A group of stakeholders met Wednesday in Myrtle Beach, S.C. to discuss the risks, costs and benefits of alternatives to the most commonly used stormwater designs. Locally, some innovative projects are under way, and Grand Strand leaders want to assess whether ideas presented recently would work in the lowcountry.

Projects cropping up along the Strand include several snouts, which block cigarette butts and other litter, and filtration devices in Myrtle Beach, which remove litter, oil and sediment from stormwater.

Also, Morse Landing Park in Murrells Inlet plans to add information kiosks in March to explain the rain gardens and vegetative swales put there to prevent stormwater runoff.

The work on the park was done by the Earthworks Group, which also has done alternative stormwater projects for the Murrells Inlet Boat Ramp parking lot, the Moss Park Constructed Stormwater Wetland in Socastee and is working with Surfside Beach.

Source: MBO