West Va. an environmental leader?

At least, that's what I'm hearing. The state of West Virginia has adopted a set of Smart Growth-oriented storm water rules. Here's a link.

Lynn Richards of the EPA's Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation Smart Growth Program said in an e-mail that was forwarded to me, "This is really big news!"

Those readers with more expertise than I in such matters, please weigh in on what you see – good rules? unenforceable rules?

It appears part of a kind of underground movement to try to bring 21st-century and urban-oriented thinking to the unavoidable subject of storm water runoff and by extension, civil engineering.

Detention ponds and the BMPs (Best Management Practices) of the 20th century are generally anti-urban in their design. How do you marry good urban design with strong measures to prevent the water pollution caused by rain water than drains off pavement and fertilizer-laden lawns? Tom Low and his DPZ and other New Urbanist-oriented colleagues are making headway with their "Light Imprint" initiative.