|
Welcome to the 34th issue of Runoff Rundown, the Center for Watershed Protection's quarterly electronic newsletter!
|
|
|
Staff News
Welcome to
our three newest staff members, Nichelle Bolden,
Sadie Drescher, and Lori Lilly. Nichelle Bolden
is our new Administrative Assistant. She replaces Kathy
Proebstle who is now our Office Manager. Sadie Drescher was hired as a Watershed Planner
and comes with extensive experience in coastal and southeast issues. Last, but certainly not least, Lori Lilly is
also a Watershed Planner and has joined us from the west coast working on watershed
planning and implementation. We are very pleased to have them on our team and
hope you all get a chance to talk and meet with them sometime soon.
|
|
Runoff Ramblings
This piece
from David Hirschman, Program
Director at the Center, provides some thoughts and insights into stormwater
offsets. If you like this, let us know. We hope to feature more Runoff
Ramblings in the future.
Trading
Our Way to a Cleaner
Bay - Reflections on
Off-Site Stormwater Mitigation Programs
What do you
think of the following deal? We'll let
the local litterbug throw a piece of trash on the ground in your neighborhood,
but he or she will have to pay someone in an adjoining neighborhood to pick up
two pieces of trash. We'll create a trash market whereby one person would be
authorized to litter in your neighborhood in exchange for an overall reduction
of litter across the city. Read more of Runoff Ramblings
|
What We're Working On
The Center recently conducted
field assessments for the Crane Creek Watershed, a 67-square mile watershed
located in Richland County,
SC. The field trip was welcomed by many of the
Center staff, who, with the help of Richland
County staff and several
volunteers, spent a warm and sunny week walking streams, assessing uplands,
forests, and wetlands, and investigating potential stormwater retrofit
opportunities. The results are being
compiled into a field memo as part of the Crane Creek Watershed Management Plan. In the upcoming weeks, the Center will work
closely with the County and the newly formed Crane Creek Watershed Association
to prioritize the restoration and protection projects identified in the field and
to develop implementation strategies.
In addition to
the Crane Creek work, the Center has also been working with the SC Department
of Planning in Richland
County to provide an
analysis of the existing development codes for the County in light of the
Better Site Design (BSD) principles. The analysis provides discussion points to
start a facilitated, local roundtable process.
As part of the process, a kick-off meeting was held on March 5, 2009
that brought together local County staff, the development community,
environmental and civic organizations, and other land use professionals. During the meeting, Better Site Design was
introduced, the codes analysis was presented, a site design exercise was
conducted and smaller subcommittee groups were developed.
The next part
of the roundtable process is to work in subcommittee groups to develop a set of
recommended code changes that minimize impervious cover, conserve natural areas
and promote distributed stormwater management.
Each subcommittee group is responsible for reaching consensus on a
subset of the Model Development Principles: Residential Streets and Parking
Lots, Lot Development, Conservation of Natural Resources, and Stormwater
Management. Each subcommittee will meet
two or three times over the next few months and a final set of recommendations
are expected early this Fall.
In addition
to the codes and ordinances work in South Carolina,
the Center has also been working with Caroline County
in the Eastern Shore of Maryland to update their development codes and
ordinances and Comprehensive Plan.
Through funding from the Town Creek Foundation, the Center is working
with the County to provide recommendations to incorporate better site design
into the updates of existing development regulations. In addition, the Center provided a water
quality review of the Resource Conservation and Preservation chapter of the
draft Comprehensive Plan. Concurrently,
the Center is working with two towns located within the County, Denton and Federalsburg,
to provide a review of local codes and ordinances. The final codes analysis for the County and
Towns are expected to be completed in early summer.
 The Center is in the middle of a major research and
outreach project, funded by the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine
Environmental Technology (CICEET)to adapt, test and transfer coastal watershed
protection tools to coastal communities. To date the Center has conducted
a survey of coastal communities (available on our web site at http://www.cwp.org/Resource_Library/Center_Docs/municipal/CICEETSurveyTechMemo.pdf
and
completed a literature review of the impacts of land cover on coastal
resources. A major product of this
project will be a special on-line issue of the Center's publication Watershed Protection Techniques focusing
on coastal plain watershed management.
The Center will work with the National Nonpoint Education for Municipal
Officials (NEMO) program to disseminate results to coastal plain
communities.
Building on
this work, the Center is initiating a Coastal Plain Watershed Network. This Network will expand on the initial
research, and develop specific tools for coastal communities, including a
coastal stormwater design book and a coastal version of the Watershed Treatment
Model. This phase of the project will
include a coordinated outreach effort to coastal communities.
 The Center is researching coastal
systems in Southeast Florida. This interesting region includes portions of
the Everglades, the Biscayne Aquifer, and a
beautiful coral reef system off its eastern coast. Through funding from NOAA's Coral Reef
Program, the Center is working with the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative
(SEFCRI) program of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to
review programs in the region that reduce pollution to coral reefs. In 2008, SEFCRI completed a survey of local,
state, and federal programs in the region, resulting in a large database of
programs in the region. The Center
reviewed this information using the "Eight Tools of Watershed Protection"
framework. The review includes 30
recommendations to better protect the reef.
This summer, the Center will present the findings to program managers in
the region, gather additional information from them, and refine the
recommendations.
You may
remember reading about our technical capacity mini-grant program in the past
two issues of Runoff Rundown. One of the Center's grant recipients, the
Watershed Management Group (WMG) from Tucson,
AZ, has been making great strides
on their project to develop a water harvesting certification program. The
program, which is in its second year, aims to provide the highest quality of
water harvesting training in the nation through their 9-day and 8-day trainings
for instructors and practitioners. Two levels of training offer beginners
and more advanced water harvesters hands-on experience with local experts on
the planning, design, installation and maintenance of various water harvesting
systems. For the official program announcement, click here and for an application, click here or visit WMG's website at www.watershedmg.org.
|
|
Feature Article:
Better Site Design: Changing "Better" to the "Best"
With almost
11 years since the publication of the Better Site Design (BSD) Handbook, the Handbook is ready for an
update. For those of you who aren't
familiar with our most popular publication, the BSD Handbook presents technical support for 22 model development
principles adopted by a consortium of national development, planning,
transportation, engineering and public safety organizations. The model development principles act to
reduce impervious cover, conserve open space and manage stormwater at new
residential and commercial development sites.
The BSD Handbook contains
current and recommended practices, research data on economic, market, legal,
safety and social benefits of the principles.
In addition, the handbook contains a Codes and Ordinance Worksheet (COW)
- a standardized tool to help identify which development rules need to be
changed.
Since its inception, we've heard
from many of you regarding the use of the BSD
Handbook in your communities including the Cumberland River Compact,
Southeast Watershed Forum, Pennsylvania Environmental Council and Tennessee
Valley Authority. In fact, many communities have used this tool as a starting
point for modifying their codes and ordinances. Other communities use this tool
to conduct their own roundtable process.
The Center has also been collecting experience and data, and conducting
local site planning roundtables - a collaborative consensus-building initiative
designed to convene local government agencies, the development community,
neighborhood organizations, engineering and planning firms and groups
interested in environmental and conservation issues. The goal of the roundtable is to identify
local opportunities and constraints in the codes and ordinances regarding
innovative site planning technique implementation. Once opportunities and
constraints have been identified, diverse groups of stakeholders can build
consensus on necessary ordinance modifications.
To date, over 12 roundtables have been conducted in
municipalities throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Moving Forward
While much
of the BSD Handbook is still very
relevant today, the Center plans on updating the handbook to reflect new
research and practices. This effort will not only provide better site design
practices with new research and case studies, but also provide guidance on more
water resource-protective land use planning. Some other options being considered for the update are the natural resource implications land use decisions have
on green infrastructure, total maximum daily loads, stormwater management,
drinking water protection, climate change and other related issues.
Interested in
Partnership? We are currently looking for opportunities to
update the BSD Handbook. If you know of any, please email Julie Tasillo at jat@cwp.org
|
|
Feature Article:
Coastal Stormwater Supplement to the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual
Georgia Coastal Plain
Last month, the Center wrapped up its work with the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division and the
Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission, on a Coastal
Stormwater Supplement (CSS) to the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual. This
eagerly awaited document, which was 18 months in the making, builds on the
information presented in the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual (which the
Center helped develop earlier this decade) to provide comprehensive guidance on
managing post-construction stormwater runoff on development sites located in
Georgia's 24-county coastal region.
At this point, some of our readers out there are
saying: "Great, just what we need, another stormwater manual...isn't
there enough guidance out on the street already?" But before you shelve the CSS
as just another stormwater manual, take a look inside. You'll find
guidance on an innovative, green infrastructure-based approach to
stormwater management with its roots in natural resource protection and better
site design. read more...
|
|
CWP Webcasts
For the 209
respondents to our webcast survey, our sincere thanks. We have used the feedback
that you provided us to help enhance the content and delivery of our Webcasts.
The Webcasts will start in May and registration information is available at www.cwp.org/Webcasts. The summary of
survey results can be viewed here.
In response
to the request for additional information on various Webcast topics, the Center
has a launched a new portion of our website just for Webcasts at www.cwp.org/Webcasts. Some of the
features include topics on the most popular subjects chosen as a result of the
survey. In addition, while we could not offer all the Webcasts for free since
there are costs associated with the setup, preparation, and delivery to our
staff and outside speakers, we are offering one free Webcast this year and also
hoping to link closely with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) so that we
can also provide content information for the free webcasts that they host. Last, but not least, Continuing Educational
Units (CEUs) are offered for the Center Webcasts and in the near future, if you
pay for a Center Webcast, we hope to offer CEUs for some of the select, free
Webcasts offered through EPA.
We hope you
will check out our Webcast website for the newest topics, information on CEUs,
details about speakers, and to register to attend. To register by mail and
review a brochure for the 2009 Webcasts, click here.
Thanks again to our survey respondents and hope to "meet"
you all on a future Webcast.
|
|
FYI
Where We're Speaking
Dave Hirschman will be leading a site plan
charette workshop for Virginia's proposed
stormwater regulations in Radford,
VA on April 29th,
sponsored by Virginia DCR and the New River Valley Planning District
Commission.
Julie Tasillo on Putting the LID on Development at the 20th
Annual Nonpoint Source Pollution Conference on May 18-20, 2009, Eastland Park
Hotel, Portland, ME. http://www.neiwpcc.org/npsconference/
Greg Hoffmann on the Runoff Reduction Method at the World Environmental
and Water Resources Congress on May 17-21, 2009 in Kansas City, MO.
Sponsored by the Environment and Water Resources Institute of ASCE. http://content.asce.org/conferences/ewri2009/
Mike Novotney on Improving
Quality of Life through Effective Land Use Policies at the Coastal Georgia
Stormwater/Land Use Policy Practicum on May 19, 2009 at the Coastal Georgia
Regional Development Center in Brunswick, GA and again on May 20, 2009 in
Savannah, GA. http://www.coastalgeorgiardc.org/practicum/
Greg
Hoffmann, Lisa Fraley-McNeal, Mike Novotney, Paul Sturm,
Julie Tasillo 2009
River Rally, Baltimore, MD May 29 - June 1, 2009, Hyatt Regency, Baltimore, MD.
http://www.rivernetwork.org/programs/national-river-rally
Paul is presenting on Illicit
Discharges- Finding and Fixing Them, Mike is presenting Watershed 263: Science
and Watershed Restoration Collide, Lisa is presenting Urban Watershed Forestry,
Greg and Mike are presenting Retrofitting in Pavement Paradise, Julie and Paul
are presenting The Downlow on Downspout Disconnection
Dave Hirschman, Laurel Woodworth, and Kelly
Collins will be presenting at StormCon 2009. Dave and Laurel
are presenting a paper on the Extreme BMP field survey, Kelly is co-presenting
a paper on Richland County,
SC's watershed planning, and Dave
and Laurel are co-presenting a pre-conference workshop with Biohabitats
entitled, "The Art and Science of Stormwater Retrofitting to Restore Ecosystems
and Create Community Spaces." August
16-29, 2009, Anaheim Marriott, Anaheim, CA.
http://www.stormcon.com/downloads/attendees/sc09conf_program.pdf
for complete agenda.
If you are interested in a training workshop for your community or
requesting a Center-led session at your conference, please contact Laurel Woodworth, (434) 293-5793, lw@cwp.org.
|
CALL FOR
PRESENTATIONS due April 21, 2009: Northwest Environmental Conference and
Tradeshow December 7 - 8, 2009. Red Lion Hotel on the River - Jantzen Beach,
Portland, OR.
Organized by Associated Oregon Industries,
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Washington State Department of Ecology, and
Northwest Environmental Business Council.
www.nwec.org
CALL
FOR PRESENTATIONS due April 30, 2009: Chesapeake Watershed
Forum October 9-11, 2009. National Conservation Training
Center, Shepherdstown, WV.
http://www.rivernetwork.org/2009-chesapeake-watershed-forum-request-proposals
CONFERENCE:
AWRA Spring Specialty Conference - Managing Water Resources and Development in
a Changing Climate May 4-6, 2009. Anchorage Marriott
Downtown, Anchorage, AK Organized by the American Water Resources
Association. http://www.awra.org/meetings/Anchorage2009/index.html
CONFERENCE: 2009 IECA Southeast Chapter Muddy Water Blues - Providing
Innovative Solutions to Complex Regulations May 11-13, 2009. Crowne Plaza,
Asheville, NC. http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?i=c2422da6-15fc-476b-85ec-b1fa6100a0b7
CONFERENCE: 5th National NPS and Stormwater Outreach
Conference - Achieving Results with Tight Budgets May 11-14. Doubletree Hotel, Portland, OR.
Jointly sponsored by EPA and USDA CSREES. http://www.epa.gov/nps/outreach2009/
CONFERENCE: 2009 Ohio
Stormwater Conference May 14-15, 2009. The Manor House, Mason, OH.
Organized by the by the Mill Creek Watershed Council of Communities, the Ohio Water Environment
Association, the Regional Storm Water Collaborative, and the Tinkers Creek
Watershed Partners. http://www.tinkerscreekwatershed.org/conference2009.php
CONFERENCE:
World Environmental & Water Resources Congress May 17-21, 2009. Kansas City Marriott
Downtown, Kansas
City, MO. Organized by EWRI and ASCE. http://content.asce.org/conferences/ewri2009/index.html
CONFERENCE: Nonpoint Source Pollution Conference May 18-20, 2009. Eastland Park
Hotel, Portland, ME. Organized by New
England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission. http://www.neiwpcc.org/npsconference/
CALL FOR
ABSTRACTS due May 22, 2009: AWRA Annual Water Resources Conference November 9-12,
2009. Red Lion Hotel, Seattle,
WA. Organized by the American
Water Resources Association. http://www.awra.org/meetings/Seattle2009/
CALL FOR
ABSTRACTS due May 27, 2009: 10th National Conference on Science, Policy, and
the Environment - The New Green Economy January 20-22, 2010. Ronald Reagan
Building and International Trade Center, Washington,
DC. Organized by the National Council for Science and the Environment. http://ncseonline.org/conference/greeneconomy/cms.cfm?id=2924
WORKSHOP:
Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavement (PICP) Maintenance workshop May 29,
2009. Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL
(suburban Chicago). Sponsored by Interlocking Concrete Pavement
Institute, NC State University Department of Biological & Agricultural
Engineering, NC Cooperative Extension, Advanced Pavement Technology, and The
Morton Arboretum. http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/stormwater/training/permeable_pavement.html
CONFERENCE:
River Rally 2009 May 29-June 1, 2009. Hyatt Regency Baltimore, Baltimore, MD.
Organized by River Network. http://www.rivernetwork.org/rn/rally/
WORKSHOPS:
Stream Health & Restoration Workshops: Natural Channel Design in Dam
Removal & Fish Passage June 8-12, 2009, Fergus Falls, MN. Fluvial
Geomorphology & Stream Classification July 13-17, Redwood Falls, MN.
Stream Restoration - August 17-21, Fergus
Falls, MN. Organized by MN DNR Stream Habitat Program. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/streamhab/index.html
CONFERENCE:
AWRA Summer Specialty Conference - Adaptive Management of Water Resources II
June 29- July 01, 2009. Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, Snowbird, UT. Organized
by American Water Resources Association (AWRA) http://www.awra.org/cgi-bin/sc_2009_summer_specialty_conference.cgi?html
CONFERENCE:
Society of Wetland Scientists Joint International Conference June 22-26, 2009.
Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, Madison, WI.
http://www.sws.org/2009_meeting/
CONFERENCE: 64th International 2009 SWCS Annual
Conference - Delivering Conservation Today and Tomorrow July 11-15, 2009. Hyatt
Regency Dearborn, Dearborn, MI. Organized by the Soil and Water Conservation
Society. http://www.swcs.org/en/conferences/2009_annual_conference/
CONFERENCE: StormCon '09 - the North American Surface
Water Quality Conference & Exposition August 16-20, 2009. Anaheim
Marriott, Anaheim,
CA. Organized by StormCon. http://www.stormcon.com/conference.shtm
|
|
|
Runoff Rundown Team: Hye Yeong Kwon, editor; Kathy Proebstle. Contributions from Center staff.
|
|
|
|
