 |
Runoff Rundown |
Welcome to the 22nd issue of Runoff Rundown, the Center for Watershed Protection's quarterly electronic newsletter!
|
Registration is now open for the 2006 Watershed Institute! To register and for more information: http://www.cwp.org/WI06/wi06info.html
Today is the first day of registration for this first-of-its-kind comprehensive training for watershed professionals! Within four intensive days, watershed professionals can expect to be equipped with the tools to develop comprehensive watershed plans from beginning to end. The small-group activities, fieldwork, and discussions will focus on
- a framework to prioritize valuable and sometimes scarce resources such as funding and staff time,
- field and desktop methods,
- interpreting real data and how to integrate findings into a watershed plan, and
- practical methods including specific project investigations such as illicit discharge detection and elimination and contiguous forest evaluation.
Tuition assistance: We are pleased to announce that the National Association of Counties (NACo) is offering 10 tuition stipends on first-come, first-serve basis. Interested County staff should contact Erik Johnston with NACo at 202.942.4246 or ejohnston@naco.org.
Having enjoyed a pleasant spring, the Center, like the weather, has experienced many transformations. First and foremost is the departure of Program Director Ted Brown. After seven years at the Center providing us with groundbreaking work in areas such as stormwater management and illicit discharge detection and elimination, Ted left to join Biohabitats in April. Despite subjecting him to a humiliating roast on his last day, Center staff wished him well and look forward to working with him on Biohabitats/Center joint projects.
We're pleased to report that Program Director Rebecca Winer has just returned from her beachfront wedding in Belize where she married Matt Skonovd. Hydrologist Emily Corwin and husband Jon Mires welcomed their son Cole Alan to the world on April 14th. It also marked Emily's departure from the Center, but we wish her and her family all the best as they return to California. We do have some people joining too – the most recent being Project Manager Beth Strommen, who comes to us having spent the last sixteen years as a planner for the City of Baltimore. Beth has an M.A. in Urban Planning from the University of Maryland and a B.S in Environmental Science from the State University of N.Y.'s College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
These changes also precipitated a bolstering of our management and resulted in some well-deserved promotions: Jennifer Zielinski to Director of Learning, and Anne Kitchell, Karen Cappiella, and Dave Hirschman to Program Managers. Congrats to all!
| You should have received the email in April announcing the Center's release of the Smart Watershed Benchmarking Tool. This invaluable self-assessment tool helps local program managers make better decisions on watershed restoration priorities to maximize the effectiveness of staff and financial resources. The guidance document is available for free download, after filling out a brief form: http://cwp.org.master.com/texis/master/ search/+/form/Smart_Watershed.html. In the near future, we will be making hard copies available for a small fee. Please contact us at center@cwp.org/410.461.8323 if you would like to be notified when they will become available for purchase. |
 |
In March, the Center released Part 3 of the Urban Watershed Forestry Manual: Urban Tree Planting Guide. This manual provides detailed guidance on urban tree planting that is applicable at both the development site and the watershed scale. Topics covered include: species selection, site preparation, tree planting and maintenance techniques, and special considerations for urban tree planting. For free download and more information: http://www.cwp.org/forestry/index.htm
Gear up for those spring and summer presentations with an eight CD set! In this special package, you will get eight CD’s from the Center for Watershed Protection including: Why Watersheds?, Better Site Design, Impacts of Urbanization, the Eight Tools of Watershed Protection, Approaches to Stormwater Treatment, Stormwater Practice Design and- never before offered in a package- the Do-It-Yourself Local Site Planning Roundtable and The Practice of Watershed Protection CD. This outstanding package is available for $150, a savings of $50! To order: http://www.cwp.org/pubs_download.htm#monthly
PROJECT UPDATES:
What We're Wrapping Up:
As part of the Center's ongoing partnership with the Spa Creek Conservancy (SCC) in Annapolis, MD, the Center and the SCC co-sponsored a meeting at the end of February to share information with stakeholders about the progress of the work in the Spa Creek Headwaters and to solicit input on subwatershed goals. Highlights included a representative from the City of Annapolis outlining improvement plans for the Department of Public Works storage yard located adjacent to the creek. The Center and SCC found this meeting extremely productive, particularly for generating useful and diverse input on subwatershed goals from interested citizens. Next steps include incorporating the subwatershed goals from this meeting into the final Spa Creek Headwaters Restoration Management Plan, which will be presented to the public in the next few months.
The Center is wrapping up its work with the Beaver Creek Watershed Association (BCWA) in western Maryland. At an April stakeholder meeting, the Center presented the findings of the Beaver Creek watershed assessment and included the public in addressing implementation. Development and agricultural operations have impacted Beaver Creek, although much of the headwaters are forested. A total of nineteen priority restoration and stormwater retrofit projects were identified for this trout watershed. Implementation of the projects will add to stream and habitat restoration projects BCWA and their partners have planned or completed in the watershed.
In January, the Center presented the Antietam Creek watershed plan to the Washington Township Board of Supervisors. Township supervisors were enthusiastic about the plan and have already begun work on two of the plan's key recommendations: creating floodplain and stream buffer ordinances. The plan also recommended addressing key agricultural impact areas (5 key farms) through continued joint Antietam Watershed Association (AWA)/Chesapeake Bay Foundation outreach to the area's Mennonite and plain sect farms. The plan also addressed the need for constructing stormwater retrofits and educating homeowners on proper stream buffer and lawn care management for the existing developed areas. AWA is making inroads with the school system for stormwater treatment of existing facilities and treatment of school expansions, and has been successful in educating the public by having articles written on issues such as stream buffers and fertilizer use.
What we're working on:
The Center recently kicked off a project funded by EPA Region 3 to determine the effect of various non-structural BMPs in the Accotink Creek watershed in Fairfax City, VA. The Center spent a week in March conducting the USA, USSR, and a Retrofit Reconnaissance Inventory (from the upcoming USRM Manual 3) to identify stormwater retrofits and opportunities for education and restoration in neighborhoods. Nearly 30 retrofit opportunities were identified, and the Center is currently drafting designs for the most feasible retrofits and prioritizing other restoration opportunities. Baseline monitoring is underway to establish existing conditions, and monitoring will continue after implementing the priority retrofits. In future issues, we will discuss the next tasks of this study.
| Last month, Center staff spent a week in Conway, SC (near Myrtle Beach) walking streams, evaluating upland pollution sources, and identifying stormwater retrofit opportunities in the Kingston Lake Watershed. These efforts are part of a watershed planning project initiated by Coastal Carolina University and funded through a development grant through EPA's wetland program. The hope is to use Kingston Lake as a model and apply this watershed management approach throughout the larger Waccamaw River Basin. This watershed is a challenging one for several reasons: soils in the watershed are not suitable for infiltration, historic and active ditching is extensive, and the limited capacity of local staff makes it difficult to keep up with the extent of new development. In addition to these field assessments, the Center will be reviewing development regulations and environmental programs for the two local jurisdictions in the watershed. |  |
Since our report last spring http://www.cwp.org/runoff_rundown_apr2005.htm, the Center is well underway in its collaborative two-year study evaluating street sweeping effectiveness. The first two parts of the project, an extensive literature review and a survey of existing municipal programs, are nearing completion. The team is currently working on comparing data collected from increased street sweeping in Catchment O against data from decreased street sweeping in Catchment F to determine the effect of street sweeping on pollutant removal. The next part of the study will determine the effect of increased catch basin cleanouts in Baltimore County to determine its effect on pollutant removal. We'll keep you updated as we progress!
In March, the Center traveled to Virginia to train James River Association (JRA) staff on how to conduct the Unified Stream Assessment, which was followed by walking Old Town Creek. The following week, the Center trained the JRA on Unified Subwatershed and Site Reconnaissance methods, including an investigation of neighborhoods, commercial and industrial areas, and sites for tree plantings. Old Town Creek is located in the City of Colonial Heights and Chesterfield County, VA. JRA will use the results from these assessments to pursue various projects to improve the Old Town Creek watershed.
This fall, expect some major changes to come to the Stormwater Manager's Resource Center (SMRC) at http://www.stormwatercenter.net and to the Center's main web site at http://www.cwp.org. Originally launched in 2001, the SMRC has provided indispensable resources to stormwater managers including model ordinances, design specifications, guidance manuals, and has generated well over half a million hits. Thanks to an EPA grant, the Center will be able to revise and update this valuable content. Not only will the site have a new look, it will have information organized by the six minimum measures for NPDES Phase II requirements, and have the latest research and resources available anywhere for the stormwater professional. In tandem with this project, the Center will also be overhauling its main website to better provide watershed practitioners with the resources they need such as guidebooks, slideshows, example watershed plans, and model ordinances.
Projects we're starting:
Last reported in July, the Center is pleased to report the launch of the next stage of the partnership with the Port Tobacco River Conservancy (PTRC): the Watershed Restoration Action Strategy. The Center, Charles County, and the PTRC began by meeting with the steering committee comprised of the county planning and health departments, soil conservation district, cooperative extension, and PTRC. The team discussed the committee's capability to provide technical assistance and funding for various restoration project types. Later this spring, the Center heads into the field to check out potential restoration sites.
The Center will begin work with the University of Alabama on an EPA funded- project to develop local stormwater indicator monitoring programs. The goal of this project is to provide guidance to stormwater/watershed managers, researchers and regulators to better and more effectively design a monitoring program that targets local problems and demonstrates environmental results.
Stormwater retrofits go ultra-urban in a BMP Theme Park project for west Baltimore. In last year's watershed plan for Baltimore's Watershed 263 (named after the outfall number), the Center determined that while the watershed has no surface streams, retrofits and pollution prevention could reduce the exceptionally high pollutant loads. The City of Baltimore, the Center, and a local engineering firm will design and construct a BMP Theme Park in a 39-acre subwatershed over the next year. The Theme Park will feature new practices such as stormwater curb extensions, porous pavement alleys, and expanded tree pits that can be visited in person by local practitioners or online in a virtual tour.
The Center has begun work on Manual 3 of the Urban Subwatershed Restoration Manual series, Urban Stormwater Retrofit Practices. This unprecedented manual will help communities find and assess sites without current stormwater treatment and sites with current practices that could be improved by retrofitting them. It will provide guidance on identifying appropriate practices for different sites and the pollutant removal capacity of each type of practice. Chapters on the different types of stormwater treatment and retrofit design options will include engineering, construction and maintenance considerations. The Center anticipates its release in early 2007.
The Center is beginning a cooperative project with the Herring Run Watershed Association (HRWA) and Baltimore County to develop the Redhouse Run Watershed Action Plan, covering the 3.7 square mile urbanized subwatershed in Baltimore County. The plan is unique because it will be completely collaborative in effort, written and produced by staff from the Center, HRWA, and Baltimore County, and in outcome, as it will include recommendations and projects for both the County and the watershed organization. The project is funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation with matching support from the Abell Foundation.
PROJECTS IN ACTION:
Periodically, Runoff Rundown will have this special section to share news from our partners about how our plans have been implemented or how projects have helped leverage new funding or projects. Please remember to share with us how you have used our resources and partnerships to fund or implement work in your area by sending us an email at center@cwp.org or to your staff contact!
We are pleased to report that after submitting a watershed plan for Howard County, MD's Centennial and Wilde Lake watersheds early last summer, the county has already begun to make first steps toward implementing some of the identified restoration opportunities. For example, county staff are collaborating with teachers and students at a high school and middle school to create bioretention facilities to treat parking lot runoff at the school sites. Wilde Lake was mainly developed in the 70s as one of the first neighborhoods in the planned community of Columbia. Since the lake itself served as a regional stormwater management practice, the 1st and 2nd order streams draining to the lake have experienced considerable streambank erosion from uncontrolled stormwater runoff. By contrast, Centennial Lake developed at a lower density during the 80s and 90s, has preserved agricultural and forested parcels in its headwaters, and a large county park around the perimeter of the lake. Opportunities for restoration include the park itself as well as a large institution in the watershed that were both developed without the use of stormwater management. Stream stability issues were also identified on some of the agricultural land in the headwaters and recommended for stream restoration and floodplain reconnection. Additional management concerns in both lakes include the high proportion of resident Canada Geese in both watersheds, which were estimated to contribute significantly to the nutrient loading to both lakes. We look forward to reporting on additional progress in the near future.
The National NEMO Network newsletter just reported how the Center's Better Site Design principles and guidelines have helped the Tennessee NEMO program establish the Tennessee Growth Readiness program. This program was established to encourage communities to evaluate their land use and its impact on water quality. Most recently, the program has helped officials from nearly 200 communities compare their development rules against the Center's Better Site Design principles. This practice has resulted in more than 40 communities changing development rules in their community, including reducing street width and preserving open space.
The Center completed a watershed plan for the Appoquinimink River watershed in Delaware last year. The Appoquinimink River Association (ARA) has since been working with local governments to increase the awareness of local residents by installing signage that signifies entry into the watershed along its major thoroughfares. ARA is also continuing its SmartYards program under which it helps watershed residents plant a watershed-friendly landscape of native plants and shrubs in their yards, which eliminates the need for fertilizers and pesticides while reducing stormwater runoff and providing habitat for wildlife. We are very happy to see the positive work they are doing and hope they continue their proactive work to protect the Appoquinimink River watershed!
The Center is pleased to congratulate our partner, the Port Tobacco River Conservancy (PTRC), whose volunteer monitoring has resulted in the River being 303(d) listed for bacteria -- the first time a volunteer effort in Maryland has produced such results! The PTRC has used the findings from fieldwork and GIS analysis to convince the County Health Department that septic systems are a significant pollutant contributor in the watershed. The County is now applying for Bay Restoration Funds to pay for nitrogen reducing septic tanks.
Center conducts study to find out what happens with post-construction stormwater management nationwide
As you may recall in last fall's issue, we asked those of you working in stormwater management to complete our questionnaire on the status of your post-construction stormwater programs. With this information, the Center has been working on a project to produce post-construction stormwater guidance, targeted to communities across the country that must comply with NPDES municipal discharge requirements. Read full article here - http://www.cwp.org/RR_Photos/spring2006article1.htm
FEATURE ARTICLE:
Community Watershed Spotlight: South River Federation
One of the greatest challenges in managing watersheds is that they cross jurisdictional boundaries, governmental regulations, and local politics. The Center believes that one of the best management structures to address watershed needs is the local watershed organization. These organizations are unbridled by jurisdictional boundaries and can provide a voice for the watershed usually unfiltered by politics or special interests.
You may have noticed in recent issues that we've identified many of our project clients as a "Community Watershed..." Read full article here http://www.cwp.org/RR_Photos/spring2006article2.htm
UPCOMING INSTITUTES:
2006 River Rally
May 5-9, 2006
Mount Washington Hotel
Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
The Center will be offering an 8-session track at the River Network's River Rally entitled "Methods of Protection and Restoration." More information: http://www.rivernetwork.org/rally/index.cfm
2006 Watershed Institute
October 23-27, 2006
Deer Creek Resort & Conference Center
Columbus, OH area
Information page and to register: http://www.cwp.org/WI06/wi06info.html
2007 Stormwater Institute
Date and location TBA
Stay informed of the latest Institutes in the Coming Soon! section at the bottom of the Center's front page: http://www.cwp.org
TECHNICAL PAPER: "Bioretention Performance, Design, Construction, and Maintenance" from North Carolina State's BAE Stormwater Engineering Group – a concise treatment of monitoring results on bioretention practices. It also discusses some design considerations, and how filter media can be changed to address various nutrients. Download for free: http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/stormwater/PublicationFiles/Bioretention2006.pdf
GUIDEBOOK: Delaware Coastal Programs has produced a free manual entitled "Community Spaces, Natural Places: a guide to restoration, management and maintenance of community open space." The manual offers guidance for maintenance corporations and homeowners associations tasked with management of vast areas of open space to restore their community open space to a more natural landscape. http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/dnrec2000/Divisions/Soil/dcmp/
Open%20Space%20Nov%2005.pdf
GUIDEBOOK: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's "Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping: Chesapeake Bay watershed" was just released and categorizes all the Bay area's native plants with photos, characteristics, conditions, habitat, wildlife. It can be downloaded for free from http://www.nps.gov/plants/pubs/chesapeake/index.htm
WEBCAST: The Izaak Walton League is holding a free four-part Webcast training series entitled "Alternative Practices for Highway Stormwater Management," covering the latest techniques available to help transportation agencies save money, comply with water regulations, and improve water quality. For more information: http://www.iwla.org/index.php?id=169 and scroll down to the detailed information about this series to register for these free programs.
WEBSITE: The American Society for Landscape Architects has announced the 2006 Professional Award recipients and the General Design Award Winner was Portland, Oregon's SW 12th Avenue Green Street Project and can be viewed at http://asla.org/awards/2006/06winners/341.html.
CONFERENCE: 5th National Monitoring Conference—Monitoring Networks: Connecting for Clean Water, May 7-11, 2006. San José McEnery Convention Center, San José, CA. Organized by the National Water Quality Monitoring Council. www.tetratech-ffx.com/nwqmc06
CONFERENCE AND CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: 7th Marine & Estuarine Shallow Water Science and Management Conference, May 8-11, 2006. Holiday Inn-Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ. Organized by the Wetlands Workgroup. http://wetlandsworkgroup.org/
CONFERENCE: Essential Elements for Successful Watershed Planning, May 15 - 19, 2006. University of Arkansas Center for Continuing Education & Radisson Hotel, Fayetteville, AR. Organized by the Mid-South Watershed Training Program. www.watershedconservation.org.
CONFERENCE: The Ecology and Management of Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) Ecosystems, June 6-8, 2006. Holiday Inn-Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ. Organized by the Wetlands Workgroup. http://wetlandsworkgroup.org/
CONFERENCE: Stream Restoration and Protection in the Mid-Atlantic Region, June 14-15, 2006. Montclair State University's New Jersey School Of Conservation, Branchville, NJ. Organized by the Mid-Atlantic Sections of the American Water Resources Association. http://awra.org/state/new_jersey/mac2006/
CONFERENCE: StormCon: The North American Surface Water Quality Conference & Exposition, July 25-27, 2006. Adam's Mark Hotel, Denver, CO. http://www.stormcon.com The Center's David Hirschman will be a presenter at the pre-conference full-day workshop with EPA's Nikos Singelis on "Post-Construction, LID, and Smart Growth as Stormwater BMP's" on Monday July 24th.
CONFERENCE: 2006 AWRA Wetlands Restoration Dialogue, September 18-20, 2006. Bahia Mar Resort, Fort Lauderdale, FL. http://www.awra.org/meetings/Wetlands2006/index.html
SYMPOSIUM AND CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: 26th International Symposium of the North American Lake Management Society “NALMS 2006: Making Connections -- People, Lakes, Watersheds” Abstracts due June 2, 2006.November 8-10, 2006 Crowne Plaza & Historic Union Station Conference Center, Indianapolis, IN. Hosted by the Indiana Lakes Management Society. http://www.nalms.org./symposia/indianapolis/home.htm
CONFERENCE AND CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: 2006 American Water Resources Association Conference, November 6-9, 2006. Sheraton Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD. Abstracts due May 15. Organized by the American Water Resources Association. http://www.awra.org/meetings/Baltimore2006/
CONFERENCE: Innovations in Reducing Nonpoint Source Pollution, November 28-30, 2006. Radisson Hotel City Centre, Indianapolis, IN. Organized by the Rivers Institute at Hanover College in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and USCID. http://www.riversinstitute.org.
Runoff Rundown Team: Lauren Lasher, editor, Jennifer Zielinski, Tiffany Wright. Contributions from Center staff.
Like what we do? Consider becoming a Friend of the Center! You'll be supporting our many efforts like the ones you've just read about! For more information: http://www.cwp.org/benefits_friends.htm