Happy New Year!
If you’re in the Midwest like me, or other cold-temperature areas, we are officially in the thick of it. “It” being winter — cloudy days, freezing temperatures and the threat of potential snow and ice storms always looming. But let’s not despair. It is a new year, and with that comes reflection.
As you might have noticed, our cover looks a bit different. Last year, we announced Storm Water Solutions and Stormwater magazines were merging, and here we are. We are now officially one magazine, Stormwater Solutions. Our logo might be different, but our mission is the same. We still aim to be your go-to stormwater and erosion control resource.
In keeping with our mission, this issue includes our 2022 State of the Industry Report. Starting on page 12, dive into the results from our 2022 State of the Industry survey. 125 industry professionals completed the survey, and the majority of them said this year was “good.” That is an optimistic outlook considering the majority of our 2020 and 2021 survey respondents called those years “average.”
As always, we ask survey takers what the most important topics and challenges will be to them in the next year or so. At the top of the list this year were staffing, funding, regulations, and flood control and resiliency. While we will absolutely monitor and cover these topics and more, we do already have a resiliency story for you. On page 10, read about how New York City is implementing features that mimic the natural environment to help manage urban flooding.
We also cover in this issue an erosion control effort that used common buttonbush, which can serve as a marker quantifying sediment displacement rates, which could be helpful in designing and prioritizing shoreline stabilization measures. Read all about it on page 18.
And finally, as we look further into 2023, don’t forget to mark StormCon on your calendars for August 28-30 in Dallas, Texas. This year, we will offer sessions in seven tracks: green infrastructure; flood modeling and mitigation; programs, permits and compliance; transportation and construction storm- water; BMP monitoring; industrial stormwater management; and erosion control. Plus, the exhibitor floor will be busy with plenty of networking opportunities. Visit stormcon.com for more information. I hope to see you there!
Katie Johns
Katie Johns, editor-in-chief of Stormwater Solutions, graduated from the University of Missouri in 2016 with a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. Johns joined the Stormwater Solutions team in September 2019. Johns also helps plan the annual StormCon conference and co-hosts the Talking Under Water podcast. Prior to entering the B2B industry, she worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in Sarasota, Florida, and a magazine assistant editor in the Chicago suburbs. She can be reached at [email protected].
