This course focuses on urban storm water management from a local context; using Virginia sites and cities as test cases for studying principles and techniques of green design—transforming water from a waste product to an urban resource. Students will be introduced to critical issues in stormwater management and learn how better water management can improve community health, safety, aesthetics, save money and restore natural elements to the urban fabric. Students will study a pilot watershed and design a stormwater retrofit plan for a downtown site – finding ways to infiltrate and clean the water using low impact development principles. Students will draw on case studies from other cities. The completed design ideas will be proposed to the city and client for possible adoption.