Runoff Rundown
Winter 2008
Feature Article #1

Letters from the Field: Delaware Stormwater and Snow Angels

December 7, 2007- Hi all! Well, several fellow Center staffers and I have just wrapped up our week in Delaware for upland field assessments in the St. Jones and Broadkill River watersheds.  As part of a larger watershed planning effort coordinated by Duffield Associates, our assessment focused on stormwater retrofitting and pollution prevention assessments in the urban watershed areas of Dover and Wyoming in the St. Jones; and Georgetown, Milton, and Lewes in the Broadkill. Numerous volunteers joined us in the field, including folks from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Kent Conservation District, Duffield Staff, and Broadkill Tributary Team members. 

The different field teams assessed neighborhoods and hotspots for pollution prevention potential.  We also looked for opportunities to install new stormwater practices or retrofit existing facilities to better meet TMDL nutrient load reductions, enhance adjacent stream/wetland restoration projects, and to increase tree canopy cover.  We targeted sites with a large amount of untreated impervious cover (parking lots), municipal or public properties that could serve as good demonstration sites (schools and town halls), and existing stormwater practices that were not providing adequate water quality treatment. 

During the week of fieldwork, we were able to assess 118 potential retrofit sites, 94 neighborhoods, and 20 hotspots with the help of our tireless volunteers! Throughout these towns, we noted the potential of several wet and dry pond modifications, such as adding aquatic benches, planting wetland vegetation, adding landscaping islands to extend flow paths, and converting dry pond sites to bioretention. School sites, many that had no stormwater treatment in place, were identified as good candidates for tree planting and downspout disconnection.  Rain gardens, Rain barrels, and tree planting were the recommended practices for many of the residential neighborhoods.  With this information, the project team will go to work on ranking the identified retrofit, neighborhood, and hotspot sites in order of priority.  The Center will then complete a technical memo that Duffield Associates will incorporate into a watershed implementation strategy/plan for each watershed.

Our week of fieldwork was an overall success, with only a few hardships.  One team member came down with food poisoning, we had a few inches of snow (hence the snow angel reference - see pic), and I spent one morning in the emergency room after slicing open a bagel AND my finger! Despite the cold weather, we enjoyed the evenings spent at a beautiful house in Bower’s Beach.  The quiet, scenic location was a perfect place to relax at the end of the day.

I'll update everyone on this project in upcoming issues of Runoff Rundown (and my finger's all better, thanks!)

- Lisa Fraley-McNeal

Anne Kitchell demonstrates "Extreme Snow Angeling" in short sleeves

Sunrise at Bower's Beach

Center staffer Alexi Boado consulting with Bob Howard, a member of the Broadkill Tributary Action Team

Center Director Dave Hirschman finding new uses for a trash rack