The Plymouth Creek restoration project is an excellent example of cooperation in action and demonstrates how applying stormwater best management practices (BMPs) can have a positive downstream effect. In case you haven’t seen it, check out our video on the project’s first phase, which took place in Fall 2007.

View the video here>>

If you want to see how the restoration effort is holding up, what better way than visiting the site and getting involved. Here’s your chance:

Plymouth Creek Restoration Project Workday
Friday, September 10th & Saturday, September 11th, 2010
9:00 am - 2:00 pm

You are invited to join the Montgomery County Conservation District and partners in an effort to stabilize the stormwater BMPs, perform invasive species control, and provide general maintenance at the Plymouth Creek restoration project.

The site is located below the Cracker Barrel at 2095 Gallagher Road in the Metroplex Shopping Center in Plymouth Meeting.

Please dress appropriately and bring gloves.  Some heavy lifting involved.

Please RSVP here>> by September 8th if you are planning to attend.

admin Events, Stormwater BMPs basin retrofit, BMPs, clean water, Delaware River, erosion and sediment control, flood control, Metroplex, Nonpoint source pollution, Schuylkill River, stormwater, stormwater best management practices, stormwater runoff, water quality

In the July/August Edition of Stormwater magazine, two articles appear discussing the water quality aspects of detention ponds.

The first article, More Than a Detention Pond by Warren C. High, describes how retrofitting of a typical detention pond into a bioretention pond results in increased effectiveness in removing contamination from sediments for improved water quality, adding needed wildlife habitat and recreation, as well as solving water quantity problems.

The second piece, Sediment Contamination in Stormwater Detention Ponds by John Weinstein, Kevin D. Crawford and Denise M. Sanger, discusses sediment contamination in a typical detention pond and the problems that the accumulated pollutants, concentrated over time, have on ecological health, including humans.

We heartily agree that the overall benefits of a properly designed bioretention pond dwarf the modest functioning of the typical detention basin (pond functions are increased more if the removal of accumulated solids can be integrated into the design of the bioretention pond through a forebay to facilitate contaminant sampling and sediment removal).  The process by which the retrofitting of a typical detention pond into a bioretention pond varies with site conditions and municipal requirements, but the outcome is usually quite positive.  Furthermore, retrofitting performance can be expected to improve over time in all aspects of form and function, as vegetation grows and matures.

For the Retrofit article, go here>>

For the Sediment Contamination article, go here>>

admin Stormwater BMPs basin retrofit, bioretention, bioretention pond, BMPs, detention basin, detention pond, erosion and sediment control, flood control, sediment, water quality, water quantity

StormwaterPA’s Editors had their ears open at the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership’s (VUSP) Green Infrastructure Open House last week.  Here are a few highlights from Dr. Robert Traver’s report on recent preliminary research findings:

• Plant roots seem to maintain openings in the soil during freeze/thaw events, allowing continued infiltration; use plants with deeper roots, as well as plants with high ET rates.
• Rain garden problems are often caused by poor construction.
• Use of geotextiles between the sand medium and native soil on the bottom of basins/rain gardens may impede infiltration.
• Use a 50/50 mix of native soil and sand for an infiltration medium.
• Rain gardens and basins function well with a sand layer depth of 2 ft, where most plant roots are found, for faster infiltration and less long term compaction.
• Infiltrate relatively clean water through a treatment train design; for small storms (less than 1 in), use a pre-treatment method such as a grass/stone strip or rain garden; for larger storms, use rock bed infiltration or detention storage.
• Perhaps size and depth of storage “bowl” for infiltration can be decreased in size, compensated by an enlarged root zone and sand medium.
• Temperature of water effects infiltration rate (slower in the winter).
• Perhaps both bowl and root zone storage calculations - not just bowl calculations -  can be used.
• To make BMP’s last longer, avoid eroding surfaces from inflow.
• Design for pre-treatment.
• Clean out pre-treatment areas.

Learn More about VUSP here>>

admin Research, Stormwater BMPs, green infrastructure detention basin, erosion and sediment control, geotextiles, green infrastructure, infiltration, native soil, pre-treatment, rain garden, root zone, runoff prevention, stormwater basin, treatment train

From the PA Environmental Digest…

Two Adams County farms are benefitting from federal stimulus funds made available through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, helping the farmers install conservation measures that will aid their farms’ sustainability and profitability, while improving the water quality in the area.

My wife and I started our 250-acre dairy farm in 2000. Today “Circle Creek Holstein” has grown to a herd of 265. Our entire family is involved including our children Emily, Cody, Caleb and Paige. We have invested our time and money in conservation efforts, but this program allows us to do even more to protect water quality. It’s a good idea and a good program, without it we would not be able to afford these improvements.

–Terry Inch, owner of Circle Creek Holstein.

The Inch farm is one of 44 farms statewide receiving support to install conservation practices through a $14.2 million PennVEST grant to Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  Get the complete article here>>

For a look at another Agricultural Operation that’s looking out for the Bay, check out the Miller’s Farm Case Study. They’re Farming with Water Quality in Mind>>

admin Stormwater BMPs agriculture, BMPs, Chesapeake Bay, economic stimulus, Nonpoint source pollution, PennVest, stormwater best management practices, stormwater runoff, water quality, watershed protection

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council-published pamphlet “MAINTAINING STORMWATER BASINS on Your Property ” is now available for download through StormwaterPA.

The guide is intended to help residents, businesses, and other individuals perform routine inspection and maintenance activities to ensure stormwater management basins on private property are in good shape and functioning properly.

If there is a stormwater basin on a residential or commercial property you own, either individually or under common ownership, it may be your responsibility, as the property owner, to regularly inspect the basin and perform periodic maintenance. When basins are not maintained, they will fall into disrepair, which can lead to severe flooding and pollution of creeks and streams.

The publication is provided to help the non-engineer understand basic inspection procedures, and includes tips for improving basin performance and appearance.

Most stormwater basins in Pennsylvania are privately owned; as such, individual property owners are responsible for operation and maintenance.

If there is uncertainty about the ownership of a basin on or near your property, contact your municipality to verify ownership and maintenance obligations.

If there is uncertainty about basin design or function, if damage or malfunctions are observed, or in the event a more in-depth inspection or assessment is needed, the owner should secure the professional services of a licensed professional engineer.

Most stormwater basins in Pennsylvania were designed as dry detention basins. This publication focuses on inspection and maintenance only of dry detention basins, or “dry ponds.”

Download the Pamphlet here.

admin Stormwater BMPs basin inspection, BMP Maintenance, dry detention basin, dry pond, flood control, Nonpoint source pollution, stormwater basin, stormwater best management practices, stormwater runoff, volume control, water quality