2010 Schuylkill Watershed Congress
March 13th, 2010
Montgomery County Community College - West Campus
Pottstown, Pennsylvania

The Schuylkill Watershed Congress is an annual gathering of citizens interested in understanding, protecting and restoring local watersheds and streams. This event features a diverse program with concurrent and poster sessions covering a broad range of watershed topics.

The 2010 Keynote Presentation offers a panel discussion titled “How to Challenge a Stormwater Permit and Win: A Look at the Crum Creek Neighbors Decision. Michele Adams (Meliora Environmental Design), James A. Schmid, Ph. D. (Schmid & Company, Inc., Consulting Ecologists), and John Wilmer (Environmental Attorney), will tell the story behind the recent successful legal challenge to a stormwater permit given to a developer in an Exceptional Value designated watershed in Delaware County.

Complete details on all sessions being offered and for registration and sponsorship information can be found here

Registration forms can be downloaded 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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Delaware County, PA — There is far more to creating a quality residential development than grading a property and putting up homes. Conservation design looks at natural features, site constraints, and stormwater management — long before construction begins.

When Trilogy Investments bought one of the last remaining large parcels of property in Thornbury Township, they envisioned building 458 residential units on large lots throughout the tract–exactly what the township’s zoning allowed. When Trilogy’s President John Lynch saw that the township had other hopes and concerns–and was willing to be flexible in finding a solution that was beneficial to all–he realized it was a whole new game. The Cherry Creek cluster development became a model of conservation design that preserved woodlands, wetlands, and fields — and ended up holding 241 homes.

Says John Lynch:

I guess there’s a question of whether I’m doing this type of development for altruistic reasons or not. The answer is I’m not. First and foremost it’s a business. So normally when I  get involved in new projects, I look at them pretty analytically–what are my rights under law–and I then try to do better. When there are people on the other side of the table who share the goal of doing something better, so that there’s a win-win scenario, then it’s all green lights and I will pursue that with more vigor and more gusto than you can imagine…

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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