At the Center for Watershed Protection…

Last week we summarized EPA’s webcast on the proposed national rulemaking on post-construction stormwater management. The agency was clear in their intention to consider volume control and promoting the concept of green infrastructure.  In its Winter 2010 newsletter, the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) recaps reader ramblings on the role of evapotranspiration (ET) in stormwater design, and shares readers comments on tools for stormwater volume reduction.  Read these and other stormwater features at CWP’s Runoff Rundown, Winter Edition.

Upcoming events

2010 International Low Impact Development (LID) Conference, April 11-14, 2010.

Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel, San Francisco, CA.

Organized by ASCE and EWRI.

More Information

From the Rooftop to the Bay: Implementing Stormwater Management Strategies in the

Chesapeake Bay Watershed, March 9-11, 2010. (Registration deadline is February 5, 2010)

Stonewall Jackson Hotel in Staunton, VA.

Organized by the Center for Watershed Protection.

More Information

Schuylkill Watershed Congress, March 13th, 2010.

Montgomery County Community College, West Campus, Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

Organized by the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

For more information, call 215-369-1188, ext. 109.

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Marshallton, PA –

Studies by internationally acclaimed Stroud Water Research Center have shown that healthy forests bordering streams not only prevent numerous pollutants from reaching the water, but also multiply the stream’s natural ability to cleanse itself of pollutants that do make their way into the water. On a small farm that is typical of many in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, scientists have demonstrated that a treatment train approach that applies a series of best management practices in with a forested buffer is very effective in protecting the water quality in a small stream. They suggest the lessons learned have broad implications for the future of the Chesapeake Bay.

Bernard Sweeney, PhD, Director of the Stroud Water Research Center:

The science is now clear that widespread implementation of streamside forest buffers is one of the simplest, most cost effective approaches to eliminating many of the problems of the Chesapeake Bay…

The video is also available on the StormwaterPA YouTube Playlist and will be StormwaterPA.org with more project details soon. Check it Out and add it to your Site!

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At the end of November we offered questions and concerns about Riparian and Wetland Buffers for Water-Quality Protection: A Review of Current Literature, an article that was published in the November issue of Stormwater Magazine.  This week we offer other views on Riparian Buffers.

From the Stroud Water Research Center…

Stroud reports that the single most important factor in determining the quality of a stream’s water is the amount of forested land in its watershed. In 2008, the Stroud Water Research Center published Protecting Headwaters: The Scientific Basis for Safeguarding Stream and River Ecosystems. Although the focus is on headwater streams, the piece discusses forest buffers and how they provide many in-stream benefits including pollutant control, maintaining temperature control, providing food resources and habitat for aquatic organisms, and assisting in bank stabilization.  Click here for an executive summary or here for the full narrative.

From the Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water…

Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water has published its own platform on Proposed Buffer Requirements for Pennsylvania.  Read a summary of select studies reporting percentage of pollutant reductions based on buffer size.  Recommended is a minimum 100-foot buffer on all streams with additional buffer width for Special Protection waters, steep slopes, and more recently, headwaters, and impaired waters.  For the full Riparian Buffer Platform, click here.

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