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By Janice Kaspersen As stormwater professionals, much of our work is focused on local water bodies: how our programs are affecting, for better or worse, the nutrient levels in a local lake, or the number of days the local beach is closed because of high indicator bacteria counts. In areas that have total maximum daily loads in place for a large body of water—the Chesapeake Bay, for example—we’re also concerned with the efforts of those closely surrounding us. Every so often, though, it’s useful to step ...... continue reading
From: Stormwater Topics: Regulatory Issues, Research, Water-quality Monitoring
By Katherine Baer Despite marked progress toward cleaner water over the 40-year history of the Clean Water Act, there is widespread agreement that much work is left to be done. One major gap in the protections under the landmark law is its inability to effectively reduce polluted stormwater runoff from developed and developing areas. This growing source of pollution from urbanized areas and the resulting growth in impervious surfaces continues to plague our rivers and streams across the country. The US ...... continue reading
From: Stormwater Topics: Low-impact Development, Regulatory Issues, Research
By Eric Woolson Low-impact-development stormwater management approaches are gaining in popularity and are being increasingly written into permitting requirements. While a number of barriers to implementation continue to come into play, advocates are finding more solutions to those obstacles, according to experts across the country. “We cannot just trumpet the wonderful qualities of LID without also hearing about the barriers, understanding them, and trying to address them,” observes Bruce Wulkan, senior...... continue reading
From: Stormwater Topics: Low-impact Development, Monitoring, Research
By Mark Grey, Dave Sorem, Caitlin Alexander, and Richard Boon With fourth-generation municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permits in California now requiring use of low-impact-development (LID) stormwater best management practices (BMPs) for discretionary new and redevelopment projects, the need for accurate LID BMP cost data has never been greater. Indeed, for development project proponents and the regulated MS4s, the data are fundamental both for informing the LID BMP selection process t...... continue reading
From: Stormwater Topics: Low-impact Development, Program Funding, Research
By Jerald S. Fifield Today, a multi-million-dollar industry provides a variety of products to meet EPA’s mandate of installing construction site best management practices (BMPs) to minimize pollutants in the discharge of runoff waters. On any construction site, one will find numerous barriers to perform this task, including silt fence, straw bale, fiber roll, and geosynthetic structures around homes and inlets or in drainage channels. What is unknown is the effectiveness of barriers to rem...... continue reading
From: Stormwater Topics: BMP New Construction, Erosion Control, Research
By Daniel Ahern, Richard Wagner, and Robert Klink Beaufort County, SC, is located between Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA. Because of the prime coastal location, the county has long been an attractive location for resorts and other types of development. The county’s stormwater program has been challenged by its citizens and leaders to be a progressive coastal program that has recently incorporated volume control into its stormwater management criteria. This progressive attitude has kept 85% of o...... continue reading
From: Stormwater Topics: Pollutants, Program Management, Research
By Clem Brown and Bryn Evans The city of San Diego, CA, Transportation and Storm Water Department has been aggressively testing assumptions regarding street sweeping and its role as a best management practice (BMP) for stormwater pollution prevention. The city has gathered significant data regarding how to best optimize the use of street sweeping equipment and routes. This article summarizes the city’s findings and makes a strong case for street sweeping improvements nationwide. Background The ci...... continue reading
From: Stormwater Topics: Pollutants, Program Management, Research
By Cara Lyons, Robert Traver, and Bridget Wadzuk Many sources, including the US Environmental Protection Agency, National Research Council, and state stormwater manuals, recommend the use of stormwater control measures (SCMs) in series to form a treatment train. The concept of using multiple treatment processes to improve results is a long-standing remediation strategy in the water and wastewater fields. As for stormwater management, the reasons for using a series of treatments are to maximize an...... continue reading
From: Stormwater Topics: Low-impact Development, Monitoring, Research
By Jeff Gunderson, Robert M. Roseen, Thomas P. Ballestero, Alison Watts, James Houle, and Kim Farah Subsurface gravel wetlands (SGWs) are an innovation in low-impact development (LID) stormwater design gaining significant recent attention. These horizontal flow systems take advantage of important biochemical nutrient cycling functions necessary for treating nonpoint-source pollution. SGWs approximate the look and function of natural wetlands, with high efficacy for removing sediments, nutrients, ...... continue reading
From: Stormwater Topics: BMP Post Construction, Low-impact Development, Research
By Jane Clary, Brandon Steets, Jonathan Jones, Eric Strecker, and Marc Leisenring Pathogens are the top cause of stream impairments nationally, with over 10,500 stream segments identified as impaired as of 2012—typically due to elevated concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in waterbodies. Although strict numeric effluent limits for stormwater discharges are not typically required yet in most communities, the implementation phase of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) may result in Natio...... continue reading
From: Stormwater Topics: Bacterial Detection, Pollutants, Research
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