Annnouncing the Seventh Annual PennFuture Watershed Workshop

Bold Action to Protect Water Quality in Philadelphia and Beyond
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friends Center in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Water Department has some of the most exciting and ambitious plans and regulations in the country to protect and improve water quality. Reserve your spot to learn about these cutting edge initiatives and how they might catch on in other parts of Pennsylvania.

This workshop will update watershed groups, conservancies, municipal government officials, and interested residents on the changes Philadelphia is making to ensure the health of our waterways. These changes can serve as a model for other municipalities who not only seek to better manage their stormwater, but also want to build their economy by simultaneously improving their overall physical environment. Hear from the folks behind this new approach to stormwater management and from those who are making the change happen.

• Christine Marjoram, manager of the Stormwater Plan Review & Incentive Program at the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD), will review stormwater management regulations and how they are changing;
• Joanne Dahme, program manager, PWD Office of Watersheds and PennFuture’s own Brian Glass, staff attorney, will explain the changes that are being made to the commercial stormwater charge and why it is it likely to result in better stormwater management;
• Maggie Allio of the Trans-Pacific Engineering Corp andJoanne Dahme of PWD Office of Watersheds will discuss the need for and strategies around implementing integrated watershed management planning;
• Marc Cammarata, manager of watershed planning and engineering for PWD and Brian Glass will delve into Philadelphia’s bold combined sewer overflow long term control plan update, Green City, Clean Waters and the benefits it offers over other plans being put forward across the country;
• PennFuture’s Rachel Vassar, Philadelphia outreach coordinator will take a look at Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling, and why it is relevant to southeastern Pennsylvania’s water quality;

Other highlights of the day include:  A guided tour of the Friends Center green roof and other water management practices incorporated into the facility, a chance to win a rain barrel to manage stormwater management at home; and  a light breakfast, lunch and materials!  Workshop is FREE to PennFuture members, $10 for non-members.  Space is limited and registration is required by Friday, April 9, 2010; register online today or by calling 717-214-7920.

admin Events CSO, Delaware River Basin, green infrastructure, integrated watershed planning, rain barrels, stormwater legislation, stormwater runoff

Dr. Robert Traver, Director of the Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership (VUSP) and Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Villanova University recently sent out an update on the activities of the VUSP that we thought we would share. Dr . Traver writes:

Hello all!  It has been a wild ride this year, and my apologies for taking so long to update everyone.   This is to let you know our most recent year end report is available on the VUSP website.

PaSWM - Well the symposium exceeded our wildest dreams.  We received great reviews, and the attendance was only slightly off from the past - approximately 300.  I forgot how energy it takes, but it is simply a great event and thanks for your participation.  We had great speakers and great participants!

Stormwater Control Measure Research -I think overall the work is going well.  Our latest research update is available from the VUSP website.  Our only challenge is to focus on a subset of what is possible.  As of last count, we have MANY rain gardens, multiple porous surfaces, two green roofs, an infiltration trench, a historic seepage pit, a dry and wet detention pond, rain barrels, a SWW and are building a bio swale.  I wish we had the resources to study them all!

319  - We are continuing to focus on the Pervious Concrete and Porous Asphalt (PCPA) Site, the Bio Infiltration Rain Garden, and the In filtration Trench.  We are looking harder at the soil nutrients, and temperature effects.  Dr John Komlos is using this data to look at how long can the soil remove P before it is exhausted.  The first estimate I think is over 20 years for the top several inches.  Dr. Andrea Welker has a problem… the pollutants moving through the PCPA are so low it is hard to measure (Now that is a problem I like!)  She is concentrating on the temperature, flow, and chlorides.  We are also studying the opposite end of the spectrum that being the Infiltration Trench which is real dirty.  The contrast of the sites plus the extreme nature of the IT allows for good comparisons.  Dr. John Komlos is piggy backing on these projects with a study looking at stormwater toxicity which we are hoping will be renewed and expanded (EPA Edison) .  A critical point is all this work would not be moving forward without the student support from the 319 program.

CiCeet - We are still working on a CiCeet grant from NOAA that is allowing us to compare the results of Bio Infiltration/Bioretention sites from Univ. of Maryland and NC State.  The results so far are dramatic.  When viewing the error band for peak flows the results are scattered (though all reduced) but we are amazed at the repeatability and narrow error bands when we simply look at Volume in and out.  I have to bite my tongue; we are even able to relate the performance to a reduction of the NRCS Curve number.  We have submitted a publication to ES&T, which we hope to receive comments on soon, and I put a few of the graphs in the yearend report.  This grant unfortunately dies out in Fall 2010, and we are hoping to continue this work through other sources.  Through this grant, Ryan Lee is working on a more physics based approach to simulating the hydraulics of a rain garden.  All of this work is founded on the continuing 319 data collection efforts.

319 & ET Dr Wadzuk is about finished redesign of the stormwater wetlands using a GGII grant. We hope construction starts soon!  It will be much more circuitous then before with a series of gates to extend the contact time.  I am curious how much better it will work then my original design using a sketch.  The field has advanced!  We build two new rain gardens and soon a bio  swale using an older GGII grant, and as of now we have 11 rain gardens on campus, and are hoping to have four of them instrumented (need four more students!).  Dr Wadzuk is leading the charge, on our ET grant, looking at Green Roofs, Bio Retention/infiltration and a mini stormwater wetland.  The first Thesis on the green roof ET will be out soon.

TVSSI- William Penn - We continue to partner with temple, and this time we are focusing on monitoring and the longevity or performance of Green Infrastructure systems.  We are looking at designing a simple measuring device for rain gardens to help municipality know how they are working.  Dr. Andrea Welker is looking to work with a student to visit many older or recent BMPS (SCMS) and check their status as an effort to educate the work force on ho w they do after construction!

ARRA -Rain barrels and Rain Gardens - Well we almost finished our Rain Barrels and Rain gardens ARRA project, we are at the 99% mark but halted by the snow.  I believe we installed 28 Barrels and 6 new rain gardens on campus.  Note this is not a research project, but one to reduce NPS pollution and to be a good neighbor ( and some employment).  I am tempted to throw in a pressure transducer in the barrels, but I think I will wait till I find an undergraduate to work on it for a course.  I see many potential projects on campus, but one step at a time.

EPA III Green Highways  — EPA Stormwater Regs - We have met and given sem inars at EPA III on Stormwater Green Infrastructure, and are looking at how  we can aid and get more involved with the green highways program (I have been contacted to conduct a free webinar through EPA on the subject in April).  We continue to see this as a great need, and many of our projects translate well.  I also presented testimony in DC to EPA regarding proposed national stormwater regulations.

Villanova Center for the Advancement of Sustainability in Engineering.  Well, one last thing.  The College of Engineering has created VCASE in order to bring together say Energy and Stormwater, etc.  The College has granted me a course release for VUSP and to create the VCASE.  So I am now Director Squared.  This organization will allow us to diversify and I hope bring more resources to our research.

Rob

Robert G. Traver, Ph.D., PE, D.WRE

Visit VUSP on the web.

admin General bioretention, BMPs, economic stimulus, federal stormwater regulations, green highways, green infrastructure, green roofs, infiltration, Nonpoint source pollution, pervious pavement, porous pavement, rain barrels, rain garden, stormwater legislation

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!

admin Weekly News BMPs, buffers, clean water, economic stimulus, flood control, green infrastructure, green roof, rain barrels, rain garden, rainwater collection, stormwater best management practices, stormwater runoff, water quality, wet weather

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

As previously noted in our September posts, PA DEP has convened a BMP Manual Revision Committee. In their notification to attendees, they noted that

… recommended updates may include edits to existing portions, complete omissions, or additions of new material.  All changes much be justified through acceptable principles of engineering or science.  If unable, to do so, subgroups may bring new ideas before the bigger committee for consideration and feedback.

Following is PA DEPs statement on the focus of this  Sub-Group, as presented at the first Committee Meeting:

Capture and Reuse (C&R) is one of three volume control alternatives offered by the BMP Manual, however there is no guidance given on how to equate volume and peak attenuation for these measures.  There have been some different approaches on this topic from across the state that can hopefully be considered as part of this endeavor.

Modeling approach:

Event-based modeling (w/ longer dewatering time - up to 7 days)   or  annual water budget approach?  Which is best?  Can criteria be given for both.  (Also see Subgroup Topic B)

Questions:

• How can a private residence take into account a rain barrel or cistern?   Should a bleeder hose into a vegetated area be mandatory in order to receive credit?
• Can treated sewage (effluent) and stormwater runoff be utilized together for land application?   Can they be stored together?
• What other creative ways can C&R be utilized into a typical land development project?   Can this water be bled into vegetated systems such as a rain garden during non-wet weather?

Subgroup should develop a thought process for C&R Projects since many practitioners are not used to incorporating them into their designs.

For starters, here are some typical steps that could be followed:

• The first step would be to identify the type of water reuse (residential, commercial, golf course, industrial, etc.).   Is the project laid out in a manner that makes C&R feasible?   Is there sufficient space/topography for both storage and application of stormwater?
• The second step would be to determine consumptive use (or reuse).   What are the variables?  Does this vary by day, week, month or season?
• The next step would be to determine the application rate.  For land application, this would depend on soils, topography etc.

admin BMP Manual Revision capture and reuse, PA BMP Manual, rain barrels, rainwater collection, rainwater resuse, volume control