Runoff Rundown
Summer 2006
Feature Article #1
Center Tackles the Task of Protecting Tropical Watersheds
Over the last six months, the Center has worked with NOAA's Coral Reef Program and local coastal management offices in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) to provide specialized assistance to local staff and watershed practitioners on controlling non point source runoff to the islands' important coral reef resources. Stormwater management on small islands can be challenging due to wildly variable rainfall volumes across a single island; extensive road construction and development on steep slopes with highly erodible soils; and limited access to materials and technical expertise for the design, installation and enforcement of appropriate management and treatment practices. This project has evolved into three, island-specific training workshops and specialized consultation services mostly centered on stormwater and erosion and sediment control (ESC) programs.
Hawaii
Tom Schueler worked with Hawaii's Land Based Sources of Pollution Local Action Strategy workgroup to determine what technical assistance was most appropriate for Maui County and Molokai Island. After extensive review and evaluation of various environmental regulations and watershed management in Hawaii, he spent several days in February on each island conducting site visits, meeting local staff and watershed association representatives, and finalizing workshop materials.
In Maui, the focus was on enhancing the local stormwater program and adapting ESC practices for dirt roads on steep slopes—one of the major sources of sediment harming coral reefs today. Tom recommended updates to local ordinances and developed innovative design guidelines for adapting bioretention practices, infiltration trenches, ponds and wetlands, and swales to island conditions. On Maui, annual rainfall ranges between 10 and 300 inches depending on what part of the island you are on, construction supplies are limited, and evapotranspiration rates are extremely high. So if you are interested in how to incorporate pumice, lava, and taro plants into a tropical stormwater treatment practice, you may find this work enlightening.
On Molokai, Tom discussed watershed protection tools that can be applied on their mostly undeveloped island. Tom presented simple planning methods to forecast the impacts of future land use on coral reef resources and a series of rapid methods to identify pollution sources and to select appropriate stormwater retrofit, stream repair, reforestation and sediment control projects. They developed a list of next steps to reduce land-based sources of pollution on Molokai and strategies to implement the island's watershed plan.
Puerto Rico
At the end of January, Rebecca Winer and Dave Hirschman traveled to Puerto Rico to tour the island first hand to see watershed conditions. Puerto Rico is densely developed, relatively flat, and has karst geology. They visited typical residential and commercial developments; evaluated construction site ESC practices; observed chronic erosion and drainage problems; and explored existing restoration projects and stormwater practices on the island. They also met with local staff and the Secretaries of Agriculture and Natural and Environmental Resources to discuss improving interagency cooperation and coordination on watershed initiatives. Based on information gathered during site visits and local agency meetings, the Center prepared two back-to-back training workshops on interagency ESC program coordination, implementation and enforcement.
Despite looming government shutdowns, the workshops were held in June. The first was to facilitate a process between Puerto Rico and federal agencies to improve coordination and develop some common goals for ensuring compliance with existing ESC regulations. The second workshop brought together staff from nine municipalities, homebuilders associations, local design consultants, and contractors to initiate a pilot project to identify and implement select ESC practices in the Caguas-Loiza watershed. The workshop focused on key ESC practice design, installation, and maintenance considerations, and included a field trip to a local construction site and breakout group discussions on specific strategies for ESC implementation and compliance in Caguas-Loiza. The outcomes of these workshops include: (1) a strategic outline for a long-term inter-agency approach to addressing ESC; (2) establishment of an implementation team for the Caguas-Loiza pilot study; and (3) a realization that Rebecca and Dave facilitate in Spanish only marginally well, so if you are a stormwater geek fluent in Spanish, we may be looking for your help next time.
U.S. Virgin Islands
For the USVI project, the Center spent a considerable amount of time assessing training needs through consultation with local staff from the coastal program and environmental protection division of the USVI Department of Planning and Natural Resources, the University of the Virgin Islands, and a Coral Bay community group. Composed of three characteristically different islands St Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John-- watershed management in the Virgin Islands can be a challenge. Based on information gathered by Jennifer Zielinski and Anne Kitchell during a week-long reconnaissance trip in February, the August workshop will focus on interagency coordination; stormwater and ESC; site plan review; and watershed plan implementation.
The Center hopes to continue to work with NOAA and our local island partners to continue to bolster local coral reef protection efforts in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the USVI, and possibly to expand these efforts to other tropical locales.
Jennifer Zielinski and DPNR staff Amanda Sackey
investigate suspicious discharge at a beach in St. Croix.