BRIEF OPENING PARAGRAPH:
Our sustainability challenge surrounds the issues that stem from ineffective mitigation of stormwater. Through this, there is an increased risk of flooding, as stormwater runoff is directly released into rivers. This unregulated runoff creates social, economic, and environmental issues. The increased chance of floods creates social issues such as property damage to homes, destruction of crops and livestock, and severe mental trauma to those affected. The environment is also impacted by this issue, as improper stormwater mitigation creates an increase in temperature through the Urban Heated Island Effect. Finally, this challenge raises several economic issues, as funds for repairing damages may become limited through repeated flood damage, with property value will plummeting as a result. Our model will present the challenge of ineffective stormwater mitigation, and the social, economic, and environmental issues that occur as a result.
BRIEF CLOSING PARAGRAPH:
Through our model, the issues of improper mitigation of runoff have been presented. It is clear that without regulation, stormwater runoff can be detrimental to our society, economy, and our environment. Living in an area that rains often, such as Greater Vancouver, this issue is extremely relevant, as we are directly impacted by unregulated runoff. When running a simulation of our model on InsightMaker, groundwater is shown to increase initially, and then quickly plateaus. This is because groundwater is not infinite, and if this problem continues to persist, we will eventually run out of drinkable water. It is important that we raise awareness to this issue, and that we understand its impacts from societal, economic, and environmental perspectives.
SEPARATE PAGE FOR A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE MODEL AND THE ISSUES EXPLAINED IN DETAIL:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11-Md0b_tNKTJMsKvJmUB2U3A-S9YERFpcXZSmZ4JPco/edit?usp=sharing
