Webinar on “Voodoo Hydrology” – February 21st
Andy Reese on ‘Pitfalls of Urban Hydrology Methods & What You Need to Know’
“As a stormwater community, we have for years relied upon common urban stormwater hydrologic design methodologies and trusted their results. But, should we?,” asks Andy Reese – American water resources engineer and popular writer, speaker, and co-author of the best-selling textbook Municipal Stormwater Management. Next week Andy will, with his normal humor, “lay bare” the popular urban stormwater methodologies, as well as their key elements, assumptions, most common misuses, and proper application.
“My old friend Dr. Tom Debo, late of Georgia Tech and co-author of our textbook Municipal Stormwater Management, is fond of saying, ‘I love urban hydrology. They can never prove you are wrong, only inconsistent.’ As a principal author of state and local design manuals and as a past university teacher in hydrology, I have been repeatedly reminded of the black box (maybe black magic?) nature of urban stormwater hydrologic design, and the often minimal level of understanding of many designers who are sizing and placing infrastructure within urban neighborhoods and other developments every day.”
“Urban hydrology, as commonly practiced, is an inexact science at best. If we were omniscient, we could do an exact job of urban hydrology. Instead, we rely on engineering judgment and guesswork, ultimately striking a compromise between accuracy and data availability, and resulting in an answer that is close to correct.”
TO LEARN MORE:
Click on Voodoo: Magical practice considered to be a form of black magic, but also considered a religion to some and read the article by Andy Reese when he coined the term Voodoo Hydrology in 2006.
Forester University is hosting a Live Webinar featuring Andy Reese on February 21. For information about learning outcomes and how to register, click on Voodoo Hydrology— Pitfalls of Urban Hydrology Methods & What You Need to Know