Earlier this month, nearly 26 inches of rain fell in Fort Lauderdale over a 24-hour period. Approximately a third of the city’s average annual rainfall came down during an eight-hour window, making this the rainiest day in the city’s history. This is considered a 1-in-1000 year rain event, meaning that there is a 0.1% chance of that amount of rainfall occurring in a given year. Though these events are supposed to occur rarely, heavy rainfall events are occurring at increasingly more frequent rates.

Our water infrastructure is designed to handle a certain capacity of water flow based on historical weather patterns and predicted future weather conditions. However, 1-in-1000 year rain events can exceed the capacity of even the most carefully designed systems. Thus, as such extreme weather events become more common, it is important to evaluate whether our water infrastructure is prepared or if improvements such as increased capacity, improved stormwater management, and elevated treatment equipment will be necessary to mitigate the potential adverse effects.

Have a news article you'd like us to feature? Email us at OhioWRC@osu.edu!

To find more resources offered by Ohio WRC, please visit: https://wrc.osu.edu/resources

Conference: 16th Annual Ohio Stormwater Conference

May 10-12, 2023 • Sandusky, OH and Virtual

Registration is open for the annual Ohio Stormwater Conference. This event is dedicated to advancing the knowledge and understanding of comprehensive stormwater and watershed management for those dealing in aspects of planning, design, implementation and regulatory compliance.

Webinar: Finding Veterinary Pharmaceuticals in Lake Erie Tributaries

May 23, 2023 • Virtual

Registration is open for a freshwater science webinar hosted by the Ohio Sea Grant, Stone Lab and the Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative. Dr. Laura Johnson at Heidelberg University will be speaking on her research examining if antibiotic concentrations in water samples from Lake Erie tributaries can be linked to nutrient runoff from livestock farms to better explain variations in nutrient loading into the lake.

Conference: 2023 UCOWR/NIWR Annual Water Resources Conference

June 13-15, 2023 • Ft. Collins, CO

Registration is open for the 2023 Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) / National Institutes of Water Resources (NIWR) Annual Conference. Discussions will focus on critical water issues facing the western United States, the continent, and globe. Learn more here.

Have an event you'd like us to feature? Email us at OhioWRC@osu.edu!