Flood prevention, improved water quality, economic benefit, and better quality of life just some of the goals of helping municipalities transform the way they manage their rainwater.
March 30, 2009, Philadelphia, PA—
Stormwater runoff causes flooding, erosion, habitat destruction, and it endangers human health. In Pennsylvania, stormwater runoff is the number two cause of water quality degradation, behind only acid mine drainage, and it is a major source of nutrients, sediments, and other pollutants to important waterways like the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay.
In theory, Pennsylvania should have made great strides in the way it manages stormwater runoff in recent years, but in reality, there’s a huge gap between the intent of the state’s Stormwater Program and the application of its planning, preventive, and mitigation techniques. Why? The responsibility for managing stormwater in Pennsylvania lies within more than 2,550 municipal jurisdictions. Each has local decision-making authority. And the understanding of stormwater issues, regulations, and requirements is, quite literally, all over the map.
As a result, a virtual “revolution” in thinking about stormwater that emerged with the 2007 release of DEP’s Stormwater BMP Manual is being taken very seriously in some parts of the state but far less so in others. A pair of non-profits working on the issue have joined forces to change that by increasing the visibility and reach of an innovative awareness-building campaign known as StormwaterPA.
“We believe this partnership is a win-win for all of us working to protect the Commonwealth’s water resources,” says Barry Lewis, Executive Director of GreenTreks Network, the Philadelphia-based communications group that created StormwaterPA, “and it comes at a critical time.” Important environmental education and outreach efforts are being threatened by the ongoing budget crisis. The state’s “Permit by Rule” proposal, say clean water advocates, short circuits the public process, eliminates much-needed technical vetting, and will negatively impact the Commonwealth’s rivers and streams.
“The StormwaterPA campaign aims to help the essential players in stormwater management better understand their legal responsibilities and the wide range of options available to them through an easy to use Online Resource Center,” says Lewis, “and through a series of video case studies that show real world examples of innovative solutions that are working right here in PA.” GreenTreks and the Brandywine Conservancy have just formalized a partnership that brings the Conservancy’s intimate knowledge of land and water resources to the project in advisory, oversight, and content development roles. “We’ve created an important set of initial tools for the stormwater community and the Brandywine team will help us continue to add value for those we are trying to reach. Their participation will take the project to a whole other level over the next year and a half…”
Interestingly, it was Wes Horner, Brandywine’s Senior Adviser for Water Resources, who first encouraged GreenTreks to focus its communications skills on stormwater while working on the BMP Manual under contract to the state. He was a Principal Planner at Cahill Associates at the time. “There has been a dramatic shift in how we think about stormwater runoff in the past few years,” says Horner, “and while we were delighted the state maintained a forward-looking approach in the final version of the Manual, we realized we had a lot of educating to do in order to bring the stormwater community up to speed. GreenTreks’ history of water focused awareness-building activities, proven ability to create great video programs, and creative approach to outreach made them the first place we turned.”
The first phase of the campaign was supported by the William Penn Foundation and Keith Campbell Foundation, and resulted in a multi-media Online Resource Center that makes information about Pennsylvania’s stormwater program more accessible than ever before. It also enabled the documentation of a video series of “stormwater success stories” showing some of the innovative approaches to runoff management that are taking place all across the Commonwealth.
“Our research showed that the municipal officials, engineers, and developers who are the stormwater decision-makers want to see real world examples of the BMP Manual’s concepts at work,” says Lewis. “We’re off to a great start, with videos looking at everything from converting a traditional stormwater basin into a more natural area to a group that is working to protect headwater streams; from some of the things farmers are doing to protect their local water supplies and livestock to a developer that planned an entire residential community with infiltration in mind.” The second phase of the project is gathering steam, with new video case studies and web features in development and a host of educational presentations lining up over the next several months.
The Brandywine Conservancy has a longstanding reputation in environmental stewardship and water resources management, with particular focus on stormwater management. The organization has recently launched a new water resources program, featuring efforts to promote innovative stormwater management practices throughout southeastern Pennsylvania which includes a more complete stormwater ordinance and demonstration projects focused on homeowners and residential developments. Horner, an advocate of comprehensive stormwater planning throughout a career that spans more than 30 years, and Sheila Fleming, Senior Planner who specializes in Conservation Design and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architect, will lead the Conversancy’s efforts on the StormwaterPA project. They will review and enhance all areas of the existing website, help develop new content and tools, advise on future video case studies, and act as key contributors to a newly released StormwaterPA Blog.
“As engineers and planners, we can no longer afford to look at stormwater as a nuisance to be disposed of through systems of basins and pipes,” says Horner. “Runoff is a valuable resource that we need to keep in the water cycle—and that means managing it in a more natural way. It’s imperative that we accomplish as much education as possible quickly, and we believe StormwaterPA will make a huge impact. ”
Rea Monaghan, an Environmental Planner with the Bucks County Planning Commission, agrees. “StormwaterPA is an incredible educational tool,” said Monaghan after providing DVDs of the video case studies to dozens of municipal officials who participated in a local Stormwater BMP tour. “You did a great job of pulling together the regulatory information, resources, and case studies into a project that can be used extensively by homeowners, municipalities, engineers, and developers.”
Lewis says that what you see today on www.StormwaterPa.org is only a start.
Check it out and let him know what you think: blewis@greentreks.org
admin Announcements, General flood control, rainwater collection, stormwater best management practices, stormwater runoff
