Stormwater Management Archives - Center for Watershed Protection

Building Capacity for Low Impact Development in Washington, DC

Stormwater runoff is problematic throughout the District of Columbia. Since most land within the District has already been developed, improvements to stormwater management rely, for the most part, on voluntary installation of “low impact development” or LID practices as retrofits. These practices aim to retain runoff and reduce the amount of pollution entering District waterways. In 2018, CWP received a grant from the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment to build capacity among the city’s nonprofit business districts for the installation and maitnenanceof LID projects. These entities provide education and outreach to businesses and residents in their [...]

admin2023-11-28T13:00:55-05:00September 26th, 2023|

Green Infrastructure Assessments for Coastal Resilience

The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) and Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) were awarded a Michigan Coastal Management Grant to assess locations to build coastal resilience in Southeast Michigan. Through this grant, the project team coordinated with communities to identify high-priority, publicly-owned properties and assess feasibility for green infrastructure. Southeast Michigan has an extensive coast, spanning 400 miles of Great Lakes shoreline from Lake Huron to Lake Erie connected by the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River. It is shared by four coastal counties (St Clair, Macomb, Wayne, and Monroe) and 37 coastal communities. [...]

admin2023-05-24T10:35:14-04:00May 23rd, 2023|

Tracking Progress on the Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan

The Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) recently released a progress report on the Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP) 2022-2023 Milestones. The CWIP is a collaboration of three states: Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York. Progress highlights include developing an implementation framework and strengthening partnerships with outreach to targeted watershed groups. Maryland committed $25 Million for CWIP implementation through a Pay-for-Success program that will be administered by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. Pennsylvania allocated funding for the Clean Water Procurement program through PENNVEST and New York provided implementation funding to the Upper Susquehanna Coalition. The CWIP outlines a comprehensive and cost-effective approach [...]

admin2023-03-03T10:56:05-05:00March 3rd, 2023|

New Simple Tool Helps Chesapeake Bay Communities Calculate Benefits of Stormwater and Greening Projects

The Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) is pleased to announce the release of a new, simple tool to help communities in the Chesapeake Bay more easily and consistently estimate the water quality benefits of proposed stormwater retrofit and greening projects. The Green Stormwater Infrastructure siMple Pollutant Load reduction Estimator (Green SIMPLE) tool was specifically developed for use by organizations conducting planning and implementation of stormwater retrofits and community greening projects in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, with a specific focus on lower-capacity entities such as neighborhood associations, non-profits, and small local governments. The Green SIMPLE tool is an easy-to-use spreadsheet that [...]

Karen Cappiella2022-12-22T16:24:03-05:00December 22nd, 2022|

Project Update: Stormwater Management Retrofit Inventory in Strasburg Borough, PA

For the past three years, the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) has operated a Circuit Rider program to provide technical assistance to municipalities in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on reducing stormwater pollution. This work has included technical support to the Lancaster Clean Water Partners, working collaboratively with the Center for Water Quality Excellence to bridge gaps between agricultural and municipal stakeholders, and, most recently, engaging Strasburg Borough in a green infrastructure opportunity analysis. This past Spring, CWP worked with the Strasburg Borough manager and ELA Group to conduct a stormwater management retrofit inventory across the entire Borough. Stormwater retrofits are structural [...]

admin2022-07-22T15:00:32-04:00July 22nd, 2022|

The Self-Recovery of Stream Channel Stability in Urban Watersheds

For more than 10 years, stormwater engineers in Carroll County, Maryland have experimented with the retrofit of existing stormwater ponds originally designed to reduce the rate of runoff to downstream receiving streams. Modeling results indicate that these retrofit designs—specifically, enhanced sand filter and wet pond designs—capture and retain enough rainfall that peak flows from the two-year storm are less than those from a wooded site in good condition. Carroll County also observed that the highly eroded streambanks downstream of the retrofits stopped retreating and began to re-vegetate over months or years after the construction of the retrofits. Given these results, [...]

admin2022-01-25T10:22:06-05:00January 24th, 2022|

Stormwater Improvements at Audubon Naturalist Society’s Woodend Sanctuary

The Audubon Naturalist Society’s Woodend Sanctuary is a haven for native plants that is visited by thousands of students, individuals, and families from the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area each year. The Center assisted with an ambitious plan to improve the property that included green infrastructure projects, a permeable path along the stream, and a large play space. The Center designed, obtained permits, and managed construction for a series of green infrastructure projects to address severe stream erosion and polluted runoff. The Center’s design converted 1,400 feet of eroding stream running through the property into a series of 45 sequenced step [...]

admin2021-08-18T12:16:27-04:00August 18th, 2021|

Redevelopment and Stormwater Management Projects Transform Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area

Six years in the making, this project rehabilitated a large impervious area at the Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area (NRMA) in Cecil County, Maryland. The site included a large barn complex that had deteriorated over the years and was destroyed by a significant fire. The remaining asphalt and compacted gravel generated large volumes of runoff that flowed untreated directly into Big Elk Creek during storms. With funding from the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, the Center for Watershed Protection (the Center) designed a complete redevelopment of the site. This project complements a recent stream stabilization along parts [...]

admin2021-08-18T12:16:35-04:00July 26th, 2021|

Great Lakes Communities to Gain Stormwater Expert

February 17, 2021 Marquette, MI – The Center for Watershed Protection, a national leader in stormwater management and watershed planning, is expanding its work to the Great Lakes region. Greg Hoffmann, the Center’s Director of Stormwater Services, recently opened a satellite office in Marquette, Michigan to serve the watershed. “Opening the Great Lakes office provides an opportunity to expand our reach and protect critical water resources in another vital United States watershed,” said Hye Yeong Kwon, the Center’s Executive Director. “We are thrilled Greg will be bringing his wealth of stormwater knowledge to the largest freshwater system in the world [...]

admin2021-02-26T12:56:34-05:00February 25th, 2021|

Town of New Market Step Pool Storm Conveyance System

A stormwater retrofit designed by the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) and constructed by Resource Restoration Group (RRG) in the Town of New Market, Maryland is now complete. This project transformed an historic fire pond into a step pool storm conveyance system that reduces stormwater pollution in the Linganore Creek watershed, a drinking water supply that is part of the larger Potomac River Basin. The project was initially identified as a top priority in the Town’s Stormwater Retrofit Plan developed by CWP in 2019. The New Market fire pond was constructed more than 68 years ago as a water source [...]

admin2021-01-11T15:05:55-05:00January 11th, 2021|