Greetings! 

The Fall 2011 issue of Runoff Rundown is here!  

We hope you have been able to spend some time outside to enjoy the beautiful Fall weather and colors. To get you in the Halloween spirit, we've unearthed some photos of Halloweens past at the Center. First is a photo of some current and former Center staff. We also have a photo from our annual Halloween tradition of macroinvertebrate pumpkin carving (usually inflicted on our newest unsuspecting hire).  Don't you want to join this motley crew? (see our Announcements  below)

As always, if you have suggestions for future content, or would like to contribute to Runoff Rundown, email us at center@cwp.org

Click here to view this newsletter on the web.

Rainwater Harvesting on the Farm

by Laurel Woodworth    

The Center for Watershed Protection has been branching out into new territory recently: rainwater harvesting and poultry farming. In fact, we thought, why not combine the two?

With funds from Altria and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, we were able to contribute approximately half the cost of installing a rainwater harvesting system to capture runoff from the roofs of two poultry barns in Virginia - totaling over one acre of roof. Federal Environmental Quality Incentive Program agricultural cost-share funds paid for the other half. The 600-foot long barns belong to Dewitt Goin of Prince Edward County, Virginia, a farmer with a long tradition of using conservation best management practices. The rainwater captured in his new 20,000-gallon underground tank is circulated through evaporative pads that help cool the barns when the Piedmont heat sets in. For Mr. Goin, being able to use the cistern during wet times of year provides additional security that his well water will be available during drought conditions. For the Center and others concerned with water quality, it means that the farm produces less runoff and less pressure on local groundwater supplies.  

In the months to come, we will continue monitoring and analyzing water quality and quantity parameters and getting the word out about rainwater harvesting on farms and in developed areas. On November 17^th, we will host a workshop and tour in Charlottesville, Virginia on large-scale rainwater harvesting for urban applications (e.g. commercial, industrial, and institutional settings). Email me at lw@cwp.org for more information or to register.

You may wonder how the Center for Watershed Protection got involved with rainwater harvesting for chickens. Well, the origins may be less glamorous, but equally interesting. The Center was part of an effort to develop Virginia's first design specifications for rainwater harvesting as a stormwater management practice. When we heard about the opportunity to apply rainwater harvesting at Mr. Goin's barns, we were eager to broaden our stormwater management efforts to the farmyard setting. After all, where there is a roof, there is runoff just waiting for someone to come along and use it.    

Using Watershed Planning to Meet Local and Bay-Wide TMDL Goals in Baltimore County, Maryland

by Julie Schneider 

Download the Pollution Detectives Toolkit Today!

The Pollution Detectives Toolkit provides resources to local governments who are implementing illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE) programs and provides resources to help address the required programmatic elements for IDDE programs. The Pollution Detectives Toolkit contains: two short videos on illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE), seven presentations designed to provide training for local staff and watershed groups about IDDE activities, an illicit discharge detection and tracking mini-guide containing procedures for detecting and tracking illicit discharges, a comprehensive technical guidance manual on IDDE, outfall screening field forms and a pollutant load calculator. Funding for the toolkit was provided by Altria Group, Inc. and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Coastal Plain Low Impact Development Tools Now Available

Researchers from the Center for Watershed Protection (Center), with funding support from CICEET, have adapted a suite of accessible tools for land use planning, site design, and low impact development (LID) along the 2,200 miles of the Atlantic coastal plain.  The toolkit includes four easy to use, unique tools to help coastal communities overcome LID implementation obstacles:  

1) coastal case studies demonstrating successful local designs;  

2) a coastal community watershed management checklist providing guidance for using good standards and practices;  

3) a coastal watershed treatment model for improving watershed health; and

4) coastal education materials for local officials about the benefits of LID.  

The tools can be used for land conservation, shoreline management, and hazard mitigation planning and are intended for use by local governments, public works, plan reviewers, land use planners, engineers, and natural resources managers.  Local communities participating in the case studies ranged from Fairfax County, VA, to Pensacola, FL, and Galveston, TX.  

You can access the toolkit at no cost at the Center's online Coastal Plain Watershed Information Center. 

New Curriculum Demonstrates Economic Benefits of LID

Forging the Link (FTL) is a free, comprehensive curriculum that demonstrates the economic benefits of combining low impact development (LID) and traditional stormwater management approaches for municipalities and commercial developers. Designed for organizations that educate municipal decision makers, the FTL consists of a series of case studies from around the country presented in a resource manual, PowerPoint presentation, and delivery and facilitation guides.  A project team from the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center (UNHSC), Virginia Commonwealth University, and Antioch University New England developed this curriculum, with funding from CICEET in partnership with groups including: Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO), Coastal Training Programs (CTPs), Sea Grant, Cooperative Extension, National Estuary Programs (NEP), and other municipal decision makers.

Many Aquatic Resources Left Vulnerable Following 2006 Rapanos v. United States Decision

A new ELI report assesses what wetlands and waters are not being protected by the Army Corps of Engineers since changes in federal Clean Water Act jurisdiction following the Supreme Court's 2006 decision in Rapanos v. United States. The report, America's Vulnerable Waters: Assessing the Nation's Portfolio of Vulnerable Aquatic Resources since Rapanos v. United States, also examined what states lack regulatory programs for these waters, finding that at least half the states do not regulate activities in waters not regulated by the federal government.

Responding to an Impervious Cover-based TMDL: A Brief Step-by-Step Guide

This booklet is meant to provide succinct, step-by-step guidance for communities who are required to use an impervious cover-based framework for protecting and restoring their water resources. However, it can be used by any community, regulated or not, since there are advantages to using this type of approach to stormwater management. While it doesn't get into the fine details of each step, most of which must be determined case-by-case, it should provide the reader with a good feel for the major tasks involved, and how to go about them. The guide is based on the experience of the Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) Program of the University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) and its partners in helping to fashion a practical response to the first impervious cover-based TMDL in the nation.

Resources on Pesticides in the Chesapeake Bay

In 2007, Maryland Pesticide Network and co-sponsor, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, established the Pesticides and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Project, the first working group in Maryland dedicated to reducing the occurrence and risks of pesticides in the Watershed in order to protect water quality, aquatic life, wildlife and public health. The workgroups have developed many products, available for free at the weblink above. Highlights include a user-friendly centralized summary of BMPs and related technologies to reduce pesticide loadings in the watershed from the residential, commercial and agricultural sectors; a white paper examining the impact of pesticides on the Bay watershed and proposing a range of actions, both to address key data gaps and to reduce pesticide contamination of Bay waters; a Farmer Information Kit to address the concerns of farmers in the Chesapeake Bay region with at-a-glance, constructive information on a number of important issues related to the use of pesticides, especially BMPs and conservation planning to reduce pesticide impact on health and the environment; fact sheets on alternative practices to pesticide use; and a model integrated pest management/natural landcare policy for municipal governments.

Water Works: Rebuilding Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment

Want to create 1.9 million American jobs and add $265 billion to the economy? Upgrade our water infrastructure. That's the message of Water Works: Rebuilding Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment, a report by Green For All, in partnership with American Rivers, Pacific Institute, and the Economic Policy Institute. The report looks at an investment of $188.4 billion in water infrastructure-the amount the EPA indicates would be required to manage stormwater and preserve water quality. That investment would inject a quarter of a trillion dollars into the economy, create nearly 1.3 million direct and indirect jobs and result in 568,000 additional jobs from increased spending.

Five-Year Survey Shows Wetlands Losses are Slowing, Marking Conservation Gains and Need for Continued Investment in Habitat 

America's wetlands declined slightly from 2004-2009, underscoring the need for continued conservation and restoration efforts, according a report to issued by the Department of the Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The findings are consistent with the Service's Status and Trends Wetlands reports from previous decades that reflect a continuous but diminishing decline in wetlands habitat over time. The report, which represents the most up-to-date, comprehensive assessment of wetland habitats in the United States, documents substantial losses in forested wetlands and coastal wetlands that serve as storm buffers, absorb pollution that would otherwise find its way into the nation's drinking water, and provide vital habitat for fish, wildlife and plants. The net wetland loss was estimated to be 62,300 acres between 2004 and 2009, bringing the nation's total wetlands acreage to just over 110 million acres in the continental United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. The rate of gains from reestablishment of wetlands increased by 17 percent from the previous study period (1998 to 2004), but the wetland loss rate increased 140 percent during the same time period. As a consequence, national wetland losses have outpaced gains.