Dear Editor,
China has been aggressively expanding its sponge zones throughout its cities. Sponge zones are areas of land that are purpose built to soak up water in the event of intense rains or drainage overtopping. Walkways, tarmacs, parking lots and streets can be converted into porous surfaces with arbitrary water storage capacity underneath. In addition, certain types of water hungry vegetation can be judiciously employed to beautify certain spaces while adding absorptive/transformative capacity to the area. China, in dealing with their intense rainfall patterns; pollution and downstream drainage problems, has recently achieved a lot of success with this strategy and in a very short time too.
Maybe we should explore the idea of sponge zones throughout Georgetown. Perhaps we can improve the National Park’s sponginess. Perhaps all asphalted surfaces in Georgetown should be spongy. Maybe from within Public Works, we should begin to conceive of road units with reservoirs beneath them. Perhaps roads with water-trapping capacity can be implemented gradually in more manageable areas first. Given the success that China has seen with this strategy, perhaps they might be willing to lend a hand and advise us on how to do it. A free paper on the subject of sponge cities can be found here: https://iwaponline.com/wp/article/ 21/1/19/64788/Sponge-city-construction-in-Chinapolicy- and, maybe with a bit of finesse, we can begin to see a better Georgetown. Perhaps we should try to innovate in order to give the city a better chance.
Sincerely,
Emille Giddings