In a move designed to improve water quality, the Department of Environmental Protection recently reached an agreement with Exide Technologies that will significantly reduce the amount of lead being washed into Berks County waterways. Exide recycles spent lead batteries at its smelting operation in Laureldale and nearby Muhlenberg Township.  Currently, untreated stormwater run-off from the site flows into an unnamed tributary to Bernhart Creek.

Read the full news release here.

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There has been alot of talk about “green infrastructure” over the past couple of years–and communities all across the nation are slowly bmoving towards this more natural approach.

From USEPA:

Green infrastructure is an approach to wet weather management that is cost-effective, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. Green Infrastructure management approaches and technologies infiltrate, evapotranspire, capture and reuse stormwater to maintain or restore natural hydrologies.

At the largest scale, the preservation and restoration of natural landscape features (such as forests, floodplains and wetlands) are critical components of green stormwater infrastructure. By protecting these ecologically sensitive areas, communities can improve water quality while providing wildlife habitat and opportunities for outdoor recreation.

On a smaller scale, green infrastructure practices include rain gardens, porous pavements, green roofs, infiltration planters, trees and tree boxes, and rainwater harvesting for non-potable uses such as toilet flushing and landscape irrigation.

In Pennsylvania, these ideas are starting to take hold–and the Philadelphia Water Department is at the forefront of using green solutions to meet the challenges presented by rain. The Philadelphia Art Museum’s new Parking lot features a green roof and other landscape features to control runoff,  and the Water Department has started phasing in a new parcel based fee structure that encourages landowners to manage runoff on their properties rather than shunt it to the nearest sewers. The Inquirer looks at the city’s plan in an article published today.

EPA’s Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure website is a great resource to learn more.

So are we: Stormwater PA is in the process of developing a series of video case studies that look at green infrastructure, so keep checking back; they’ll be available soon!

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The Montgomery County Conservation District web site offers several Do-It-Yourself Rain Collection projects.  Check out their information on making rain barrels and rain gardens.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has created a tool to help you Measure Your Bay Footprint so you can compare your nitrogen footprint with the average in the Chesapeake Watershed. Visit CBFs Nitrogen Calculator.

From The Journal of Hydrologic Engineering: Is Impervious Cover Still Important? A review by Tom Schueler, Lisa Fraley-McNeil, and Karen Capiella of recent research on the Impervious Cover Model (ICM) shows that research since 2003 has confirmed the basic premise of the ICM–but has also revealed important caveats.  For the abstract and the full article, go here.

The Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership web site continues its updates on Stormwater BMP research.  Go to the site.

Upcoming Events

December 15 - Online webcast on Erosion/Sediment Control, sponsored by the Center for Watershed Protection.  Begins at 12:00 noon.  Get details here.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS due January 8, 2010: 2010 International Conference on Stormwater and Urban Water Systems February 18-19, 2010. Toronto Airport Hilton, Toronto, ON. Organized by Computational Hydraulics International. Details are available here.

Start Planning now for the 2010 International Low Impact Development Conference, April 11-14, 2010. Westin Airport Hotel, San Francisco, CA. Final Papers are due from presentors December 17, 2009. Details available here.

admin Weekly News BMPs, Chesapeake Bay, erosion and sediment control, impervious cover model, LID, rain barrels, rain garden, rainwater collection, stormwater best management practices

EPA Administrator Announces Plan to Retool and Reinvigorate Clean Water Enforcement Program

In a news release October 15^th, the EPA announced that the agency is stepping up its Clean Water Act enforcement.  The Clean Water Action Enforcement Plan is aimed at revamping the compliance and enforcement program by targeting enforcement to the most significant pollution problems, improving transparency and accountability in our communities, and strengthening performance at state and federal levels.  Read more about the plan.

Pennsylvania DCNR and DEP Comment on the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order

Comments on EPA’s draft 202(a) report were submitted by several jurisdictions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including the states of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. PA agency comments are available here.

EPA plans to hold several outreach sessions with stakeholder groups during the weeks leading up to the November 9 release of the Executive Order draft strategy.  The sessions are intended to solicit feedback on ideas in the draft 202(a) report and inform stakeholders about the draft strategy, and provide them a forum to discuss various measures, answer questions and voice concerns.  The formal public comment period on the draft strategy will begin on Nov.9.

The following sessions have been scheduled:

• Local government: Thursday, Oct. 22 from 11am-1230pm - via webinar
• Stormwater (homebuilders/developers): Tuesday, Oct. 27 from 2-4pm at D.C.’s Wilson Building, room 415, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.
• Agriculture: Thursday, Oct. 29 from 10am-12pm at Adams County Agricultural & Natural Resources Center, Conference Rooms 2-3, Gettysburg, PA.

Contact: Greg Barranco, 410-267-5778, barranco.greg@epa.gov

Pennsylvania Environmental Council says $58 million in DEP cuts will have far-reaching effect

PEC President sees problems as DEP struggles to keep up with the workload: “We understand the economy’s bad and the revenues are down, …but it’s just the size of the cuts and it seems disproportionate compared to the workloads.”  For the full article, click here.

Funding Cuts Mean Potential Collapse of Environmental Oversight in Pennsylvania, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Lawmakers finally agree to a state budget, but at a cost that threatens clean water efforts.

“The budget approved last Friday rolls back years of progress in cleaning up Pennsylvania rivers and streams.” said Matthew Ehrhart, Executive Director of CBF’s Pennsylvania office. “It contains the biggest cuts ever made to environmental programs in the history of the Commonwealth.”

For full article, click here.

Also from CBF:Landmark Bill Proposes to Speed Up Bay Cleanup

On October 19, 2009, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland and other lawmakers introduced landmark legislation that would put federal muscle and money behind the Chesapeake Bay cleanup. Read more.

Upcoming Events…

Watershed Academy Webcast Seminars

Webcast on Tuesday, October 27, 2009: “Working Together to Address the Effects of Climate Change on Water Resources”.  For more information, visit the EPA website.

ASCE 139^th Annual Civil Engineering Conference, Kansas City MO, October 29-31, 2009.

For details, click here.

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Annapolis, MD–StormwaterPA was one of thirty-two environmental restoration and protection projects from across the Chesapeake Bay watershed awarded grants from the Chesapeake Bay Program and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help clean up local streams, creeks and rivers that flow to the Bay.

During last week’s  announcement ceremony at Heritage Baptist Church in Annapolis, MD, dignitaries commented on the consequences of agricultural and urban runoff — and highlighted the positive impacts that come from preserving forests and wetlands, restoring protective riparian buffers, and implementing runoff reducing practices throughout the Bay’s six-state watershed. The Church grounds feature rain gardens and bioswales that have been installed in recent years to reduce pollution flowing into Spa Creek, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.

“These locally driven conservation projects not only will result in on-the-ground improvements to habitat and water quality, but they also are a model of the local environmental stewardship that is a crucial ingredient to any strategy to restore the Chesapeake Bay,”  said Mike Slattery, director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Eastern Partnership Office.  Read the full News Release.

Did you know?

From the BBC: “On the banks of the Yellow River, China’s government is trying to solve an age-old problem. Every year the north of the country faces a drought, while the south gets flooded.  So they are building the world’s largest drain. The middle section alone will be 1200 km long and is a bigger engineering project than the Three Gorges dam.   In five years’ time, billions of gallons of water will pour from the south, heading to the parched north.   No one knows if it will actually work - but there is no doubt it will help the Chinese economy.  Work started before the financial crisis, but the government’s record-breaking stimulus package helped hurry things along. “  Take a look inside the world’s biggest drain.

Upcoming Events

PA Stormwater Management Symposium, October 14-15, Villanova University.

Villanova has had a problem with registration.   The “Firm” block does not accept spaces, so please use underscores or dashes, like V-U-S-P or V_U_S_P.  Dr. Traver is trying to get it changed… but for now follow these directions and you won’t have any problems.  They are going to hold back on the increase in cost for registration to Wednesday, September 23rd because of this problem, so please get your registration in fast so you can come at the lower cost! Register here

Call For Presentors: Schuylkill Watershed Congress, March 13, 2010

Submissions due to chari@delawareriverkeeper.org by October 31th, 2009

Since 1998, the Schuylkill Watershed Congress has been providing watershed groups, municipalities, concerned citizens and others with the latest information on progressive watershed planning, model projects, and innovative watershed protection. The Schuylkill Watershed Congress Organizers invites proposals for concurrent or poster sessions.

Topics requested by participants include:
Amphibian ID • Use of Native Plants In Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) • Quantitative Methods for Evaluating Benefits of Buffers • Case Studies of Stormwater BMPs Installed on Private Property • Connections between Vegetation and Water Quality • Wetland Plant ID • Impacts of Invasive Species on Stream Health • Native Planting Alternatives • Understanding Biotic Indicators • Ideas for Teachers for Use in the Classroom • Drinking Water Systems and Their Impacts on Watersheds • Streambank Restoration Case Studies • Historical Information about the Schuylkill River Watershed • Rain Garden Construction • Stormwater BMPs for Homeowners • Updates On Abandoned Mine Drainage Issues • Marcellus Shale • Nutrient Criteria • Guidance for Volunteer Groups Working With Regulators • Nutrient Removal in Waste Water Treatment • Legacy Sediment and Stream Restoration • Ideas for Inspiring Student Action • MS4 Permitting • Legislative Action Case Study • Creative Partnering • Projects in Urban Areas • Wetland Protection • Restoration Policies.

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

Reminder: Now you can SUBMIT your news and events directly to us!

As part of our ongoing committment to providing the most useful, up-to-date information to our partner organizations and readers, we’ve created a system to enable you to send your announcements, news, and event information directly to us so we can post it here on our Blog. Email us at info@stormwaterpa.org.

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