What Tom Holland’s historic lip-sync showcase taught us about stormwater management
Grab your umbrella and your tights.
On May 7, 2017, Tom Holland debuted a Lip Sync Battle mashup that would become a cultural phenomenon. The dance, the choreography, and Zendaya’s gaze went down in history in the retweets and posts that followed.
But among all the statements made that day in a three-minute performance, little discourse focused on the true message flowing on stage: stormwater management matters.
In retrospect, there are several lessons worth discussing further.
Rainfall calculations
When the rainfall hit the floor, so did jaws. But my shock was more at how much surface runoff was generated so quickly.
The on-stage downpour lasted for about 40 seconds. And on the platform, it didn’t take much for dancers to be sloshing in what looked like at least a sole-depth of water. But how strong was that simulated storm?
If there was anyone I would trust to ask, it would be George Remias, our Manager of Stormwater Strategic Support who also appeared to talk about rainfall modeling on S3:E4 of our Clean Water Works Podcast.
Accurate modeling helps stormwater management utilities identify problem areas, risks, and priorities where flooding impacts can be most significant. Apparently it also helps calculate fake storm rainfall rates.
“While it’s a bit of best guess on my end,” he replied in an email, “I estimated about an 1/8-inch of rainfall over a one-minute period. Assume that same rainfall intensity over a five-minute period gives us 0.625 inches of rainfall.”
George explained that peak five-minute rainfall intensity falls between the 25-year (0.603 inches) and 50-year (0.663 inches) recurrence interval for peak five-minute rainfall total, per NOAA Atlas 14.
That’s a downpour.
Stormwater runoff
So set designers must have accounted for the flow to go somewhere, but not all residential or commercial properties are so well drained.
Natural ground cover allows stormwater to move more slowly and soak in. But hard surfaces like parking lots, driveways, rooftops, and performing stages greatly increase stormwater runoff volume and speed, which then carry surface pollutants to places they can cause problems: either waterways or sewers.
At the discretion of set designers or choreographers, a nice rain garden or curb cut or even a rain barrel could have been a valuable educational component of the battle, reducing surface runoff and enhancing the performance of some of stormwater management’s best practices. Taking these steps on the home front can even save sewer customers some money, at least in northeast Ohio.
Boundaries
The artistry was celebrated as pushing boundaries when, in actuality, stormwater doesn’t know any.
For the longest time, communities tried to solve stormwater-related issues like flooding and erosion with solutions confined to their city borders, which often simply moved problems back up- or directly downstream. When we launched our Regional Stormwater Management Program, our approach was truly regional, working in collaboration with communities with solutions that addressed the problem instead of moving it. Solutions like stream restoration and floodplain expansion that benefit the individual community, its residents, and the entire region.
Boundaries have value, but often they can restrict our problem-solving potential.
Form and function
Form and function dance as one across the stage of life on the daily. It was true in Holland’s performance, and it’s true in stormwater management. Solving stormwater problems must account for both because nature-based solutions rely on the form and function of the natural environment.
Stream restoration projects account for the way water flows across a floodplain, rising and lowering, understanding that impacted properties need to be factored into design solutions. Stream bank stabilizations aren’t simply poured concrete; they are designed with naturally occurring rocks and native vegetation in mind to ensure the solutions are sustainable and attractive community assets.
I can’t say for sure what Tom Holland’s messaging intentions were when his music cued up that fateful night. But when you think about the impact of stormwater on that stage and our daily lives, Zendaya’s reaction takes on a whole new meaning.
