&EPA
www.epa.gov/research
science   in   ACTION
INNOVATIVE  RESEARCH FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
           Adaptive Management for Urban Watersheds: The Slavic Village Pilot Project
     In Cleveland, Ohio (shown above) a
     dilapidated house next to a vacant
     lot (left); a vacant lot post-
     demolition (center), and a vacant lot
     after extensive post-demolition
     debris removal, soil management,
     and plantings (right).
     Adaptive management is an
     environmental management strategy
     that uses an iterative process of
     decision-making to reduce the
     uncertainty in environmental
     management via system monitoring.
     A central tenet of adaptive
     management is that management
     involves a learning process that can
     help regulated communities achieve
     environmental quality objectives.

     Adaptive management is the
     application of resilience theory and
     can be either active or passive.  To
     develop policy for a system, passive
     adaptive management will typically
     employ predictive models that are
     based on current information to
     project possible impacts and options.
     The managed system is then
     monitored and the results evaluated.
     From this information, models  are
     improved and policies associated
     with the system are adapted to the
     new information. Active adaptive
             management involves testing of
             multiple hypotheses about system
             management at the same time. In
             active adaptive management,
             policies are put "at risk" and
             managers learn from successful and
             failed policies.

             The EPA's Slavic Village Pilot
             Project is an effort to adaptively
             reduce stormwater runoff and
             improve water quality in an urban
             watershed. The work will be
             supported by monitoring programs
             and partnerships with stakeholders
             that are engaged in an adaptive and
             ongoing environmental management
             process. This research is an example
             of integrating social, economic, and
             environmental science perspectives
             into sustainable management
             approaches that address pervasive
             environmental challenges.
             Slavic Village Pilot Project

             Current consent decree settlements
             for violations of the Clean Water
             Act (1972) increasingly include
                                                                                   '•*
provisions for redress of combined
sewer overflow (CSO) activity
through hybrid approaches that
incorporate the best of both gray
(high-rate treatment plants, storage
tunnels, etc.) and green
infrastructure (GI) techniques (plant-
soil systems like rain gardens, green
roofs, pervious pavement systems,
etc.). This project is an opportunity
to map out how residential street
level GI can be implemented in
vacant lots.

The project starts at a small scale to
build fundamental knowledge about
how GI can improve on present
hydrologic circumstances. Over the
longer term, this work will address
multiple agendas in the articulation
and monitoring of environmental
justice issues and the provision of
ecosystem services (e.g., pollination,
primary, and secondary
productivity) in urban core areas.
The research will be based upon a
data-driven, collaborative planning
approach that will bring together
governance and citizens in a forum
for field studies of adaptive
management.

The project will use an adaptive
management approach to guide a
green-infrastructure retrofit of a
            U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
            Office of Research and Development
                                                          EPA600-F11017
                                                               June 2011

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neighborhood block located in the
Slavic Village Development
Corporation area (Cleveland, Ohio).
EPA researchers will first gather
hydrology and ecosystem services
data on two neighborhood blocks
(control and treatment). Researchers
will then use this data as a basis for
collaboration with area citizens on a
plan to use green infrastructure (GI)
to contain stormflows on the
treatment block. Continual
monitoring will provide researchers
with feedback on the impact of GI
implementation and suggest where
improvements or modifications may
be made.

Project outcomes may  include a
reduction in stormwater volume
contribution to the local CSO,
provisioning of an array of
ecosystem services, increased social
equity around environmental justice
issues, and the possibility of
increased land values. The entire
project centers on managing land for
water conservation and storage,
community engagement for renewal,
and advancing a comprehensive
strategy for urban watershed
management by adjusting the
approach based on field monitoring
data, a core adaptive management
component.
Objectives

The objectives of the Slavic Village
Pilot Project are to:
•   Test adaptive management
    principles in an urban watershed
•   Assess the effectiveness of
    green infrastructure in achieving
    sustainability goals
•   Engage citizens and
    stakeholders in a collaborative
    process of environmental
    management
Project Team

Lead: A. Garmestani, EPA Office of
Research and Development (ORD)

Lead: W. Shuster, ORD

S. Jacobs, ORD

B. Dyson, ORD

S. Wu, ORD

M. Heberling, ORD

B. Demeke, ORD

L. Rhea, ORD

B. Furio, EPA Region 5



Contact

Ahjond S. Garmestani, J.D., Ph.D.,
Office of Research and
Development, 513-569-7856,
garmestani.ahjond@epa.gov

William D. Shuster, Ph.D.,
Office of Research and
Development, 513-569-7244,
shuster.william@epa.gov
Collaborators

Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer
District

Slavic Village Community
Development Corporation

U.S. Geological Survey

Ohio EPA

Department of Justice

Ohio State University

Emory University

Cleveland Botanical Garden

Cleveland Metroparks

Cleveland Museum of Natural
History



Publications

Benson, M.H. and A.S. Garmestani.
2011. Can we manage for resilience?
The integration of resilience
thinking into American law.
Environmental Management (In
Press)

Allen, C.R., J.J.  Fontaine, K.L. Pope
and A.S. Garmestani. 2011.
Adaptive management for a
turbulent future. Journal of
Environmental Management 92:
1339-1345.

Benson, M.H. and A.S. Garmestani.
2011. Embracing panarchy, building
resilience and integrating adaptive
management through a rebirth of the
National Environmental Policy Act.
Journal of Environmental
Management 92: 1420-1427.

Garmestani, A.S., C.R. Allen and H.
Cabezas. 2009. Panarchy, adaptive
management and governance: policy
options for building resilience. 87
Nebraska Law Review 1036 (invited
symposium).
        U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
        Office of Research and Development
                      Recycled/ recyclable
                      Printed with vegetable-based ink on
                      paper that consists of a minimum of
                      50% post-consumer fiber content
                      processed chlorine free
           EPA600-F11017
                 June 2011

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