Disney World to Introduce Major Stormwater Management Plan

It’s probably not something most of us think about often, but when rain storms occur (as anyone who has ever visited the Walt Disney World Resort can attest they very much do), the water has to go somewhere. In many places around the world, the water is simply absorbed into the ground, or added to lakes and rivers (and other bodies of water, of course), but in urban areas, where buildings and asphalt covers the natural environment, complications are introduced.

While most of us are accustomed to storm drains found on our local streets which dump water into the sewage system, often times stormwater is just funneled to a water source through an expansive network of pipes. This too has its problems, mostly that contaminants can be picked up as the stormwater runs across asphalt and subsequently pollutes natural water sources, potentially even eroding them.

A couple of years ago, the Disneyland Resort worked with the City of Anaheim to institute a new stormwater management system which earned them accolades as the resort now handles most of its captured stormwater completely on site: capturing it, treating it and recycling it.

Now it looks as though Walt Disney World will be getting into the act. Earlier today, Walt Disney Imagineering filed a notice of commencement with the Orange County comptroller’s office for a project titled ‘BVD Stormwater Preview Center.’ We were able to investigate further and unearthed plans for phase one of the project, which encompasses a large area just outside the Downtown Disney District.

While dissecting the blueprints we have received is far outside our forte, the project also appears to extend beyond Buena Vista Drive to include regions along I-4.

We look forward to learning more about this project in the upcoming months.