Better Together: Advancing Stormwater Practice

through CollaborationJane Clary, Vice President

Wright Water Engineers, Inc.Denver, CO USA

Stories of Collaboration

1. Political: Environmental legislation in 1960s-1970s in U.S.

2. Regulatory: Colorado Water Quality Forum3. Professional: Urban Water Resources Research

Council4. Watershed/Regional: Urban Drainage and Flood

Control District (Denver Metro Area) 5. Research: International Stormwater BMP Database

Political: Original Environmental Legislation in the U.S.

Regulatory: Colorado Water Quality

Colorado Water Quality Control Commission

Good Water = Good Beer!

• Clean Water• Safe Drinking

Water• Rulemakings/

standards• 9 members—

diverse perspectives

Professional Collaboration• Multi-disciplinary

collaboration• Varied perspectives• Altruistic investment in

advancement of the profession

Welcoming the “Youngers”Building Leaders and Mentoring

Watershed/Regional: Urban Drainage and Flood Control District (UDFCD) and Oak Gulch

• Why isn’t the 4-Step Process happening?

• Work with:• Developer• Developer’s Engineer• Local government• UDFCD (regional)

• What are the economics?• When/what are the key steps in

the process?• What needs to change?

UDFCD’s 4-Step Process

Need to Understand Development Process• Listen to all involved• Understand process• Provide guidance• Engage earlier• Provide “proof”—

data/modeling

Subdivision/Site Layout

Sketch Plan

Stormwater Master Plan

Annexation Agreements/ Pre-Development Agreements

Preliminary Plat

Final Plat

Construction

Laying Out the Land:

Curb outfalls rather than inlets and laterals

Laying Out the Land:

Grass swales rather than storm sewers

Downstream Regional

Detention

Truncated and Impacted Stream Network

Urban Development

Traditional Urban Scale (A Scale)100 to 130 ac

Traditional approach

Laying Out the Land: Traditional Approach

Distributed Detention

Preserved Stream NetworkClustered Urban

Development

Recommended approach

Neighborhood Scale(B Scale)10 to 40 ac

Laying Out the Land: Recommended Approach

SHOW ME THE DATA!

• What is the BMP Database?• What kinds of performance data does it contain?• How do I access these data sets?• How is the BMP Database being used?• Highlights of companion databases.

>20 Years of Collaboration• 1994: Birth of an idea

• Phase 1 Stormwater Regulation• Phase 2 Stormwater Regulation

• 1996-2002: EPA and ASCE grow the tool

• 2004-2018: WERF takes the lead of sponsor coalition ASCE-EWRI, FHWA & others

• …but none of it would be possible without researchers who share data.

www.bmpdatabase.org

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Project is “More than a Database”

Clean Water Act GoalsFishable &

Swimmable

Agricultural BMPs

Urban Stormwater BMPs

(Structural, GI/LID, Source Controls)

Stream Restoration

Urban Stormwater

Runoff Characterization

(NSQD)

International Users and Interest• Australia• New Zealand• China (“Sponge Cities”)• Canada

What is the Urban Stormwater BMP Database?• ~700 BMP performance

studies with metadata

• Voluntary data submittal

• Excel data entry spreadsheets

• Master database

• On-line statistical tools

• Summary reports

• Publicly available at www.bmpdatabase.org

More than % Removal

• Test Site/Location

• Watershed/Land Use

• BMP Design & Maintenance

• Monitoring Methods

• Event-Based Data: Precip, Flow, WQ

• Cost

BMP

SCM

GI/ GSI/ LID

WSUDS/ SUDS

What kinds of Stormwater BMPs are in the BMPDB?

BMP Summary • 18 general BMP categories • Most recent version posted: August

2018• Most recent summary statistics

update October 2018• Hundreds of Green Infrastructure

practices• Over 110 manufactured devices• Transportation-related studies are a

key focus area (FHWA/NCHRP)

BMP Category Nbr.Bioretention 71Grass Strips 47Grass Swales 45Detention Basins (Ext. Dry) 53Media Filters 41Green Roofs 18Infiltration Basins 4Infiltration Trench/ Drywell 13LID Sites 10Manufactured Devices (var.) 112Permeable Pavements (var.) 49Retention Ponds (Wet) 84Rainwater Harvesting 3Wetland Basins 42Wetland Channels/Swales 23Composite (train) 29Other (unique) 6Non-structural 29Total BMPs 679Control Sites 32

Five Ways to Access Urban BMP Database Information1. Overall Performance Summary

Technical Papers2. On-line Interactive Google Earth

Map Interface3. On-line “Retrieve Studies” Tool4. On-line Dynamic Statistical Analysis

Tool5. Download Microsoft Access

Database

Other Important Resources on www.bmpdatabase.org:

• Stormwater BMP Monitoring Guidance• Data Entry Spreadsheets and User’s

Guide

1. Performance Summary Statistics

How well do various BMP work?Example Summary Statistics for TSS (mg/L)

• How many sites?• How many EMCs?• How variable is the

data?• What is the effluent

concentration?• Is there a

statistically significant difference between inflow and outflow?

TSS (mg/L)

Influent-Effluent Boxplots for TSS

Volume Reduction Analysis—Important for LID/GI

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2. BMP Mapping Tool Study Retrieval

3. Retrieve Studies Tool

4. On-line Statistical Analysis Tool

• Enables custom queries for selected data sets• Returns summary statistics and allows download of a CSV data file• Newest tool—continuing to refine

Royal Melbourne Golf Club Biofilter E. coli Performance

Royal Melbourne Golf Course Bioretention Precip and Flow

Kuranda Manufactured Device: SSC Performance• Strong performance shown for SSC

for 6 events.• BMP Database does not “certify” or

“endorse” propriety devices.• BMP Database does provide data for

objective evaluations.

Retention Pond Performance for Total Phosphorus (mg/L)• How does the entire retention

pond (wet pond) data set perform?

Runoff Characterization: NSQD ToolsTotal Phosphorus (mg/L)

Example/Potential Uses of the BMP Database

• Storm Drainage Criteria Manuals• Effluent Quality Analyses for Biological

Opinions, Permit Benchmarks, etc.• BMP Performance Modeling• Design Enhancement Evaluations• TMDL Development and Implementation

Planning• Water Quality Crediting/Trading

City and County of Denver Green Infrastructure BMP Implementation Plan • Both NSQD and BMPDB used as part of

“scorecard” prioritization process to prioritize locations, select BMP types and set expectations for performance.

• Using 2009 Stormwater Monitoring Guidance and BMP Reporting Protocols on new BMP monitoring program.

Rainwater HarvestingUDFCD-LIFT-Opti-RTC

• BMPDB is able to store innovative/evolving practices.

• Denver Green School’s rainwater harvesting project utilized advanced technology.

• Study included in BMPDB.

Informing Guidance on Challenging Water Quality IssuesFecal Coliform

NCHRP Report 792: Long-term BMP Performance and Life Cycle Costs

• Developed guidance and decision support tools for state DOTs

• BMPDB and NSQD data used to predict pollutant load removals

• Tools can be used estimate performance and life-cycle costs of stormwater BMPs for highway runoff

• http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=3192

Used in MANY Theses an Dissertations!• Colorado State University• Colorado School of Mines• U. of Alabama• Villanova University• North Carolina State U.• Pennsylvania State• U. of Texas-Austin• U. of California-Los

Angeles

• U. Massachusetts-Amherst

• Portland State U.• …Many others

Dr. Bill Hunt and North Carolina State graduate students.

Stream Restoration Database and Crediting Guidance

• WERF-U5R14: Stream Restoration BMP Database Module

• WERF-IT13 Stream Restoration as a BMP (Crediting)

1.Stabilization/Erosion Protection2.Riparian Buffers3.Floodplain Reconnection4.Instream Enhancement

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Agricultural BMP Database• Increasing attention to

national scale agricultural water quality

• Gulf Hypoxia• Chesapeake Bay• Central Valley, CA• CO nutrient regs

• Local TMDLs/non-point source issues

Source: State-EPA Nutrient Innovations Task Group 2009. “An Urgent Call to Action.”

O&M Reporting Protocols

• Goals• Improve O&M

tracking/cost data• Compile data to support

better maintenance planning

• Created Excel tool to use in tracking

• Has played a significant role for WRF-led CLASIC project

Funded by EWRI, serving as matching funds for EPA National Priorities Grant #836173

Community-enabled Lifecycle Analysis of Stormwater Infrastructure

Costs (CLASIC)• Web-based screening tool utilizing a lifecycle cost framework. • Supports evaluation of stormwater management alternatives

including green, gray and green-gray systems.• Lifecycle costs and performance.• Co-benefits analysis.

Conclusion: We ARE better together!• Some of the reasons that science does or does

not advance are not technical—listening to understand is important for change and progress.

• BMP Database is a source of evidence-based stormwater BMP performance information that can support better BMP selection and design.

• Better understanding maintenance requirements and costs of all stormwater practices is important for long-term success.

Questions

Jane Clary Wright Water Engineers

Denver, CO USAclary@wrightwater.com