Storm Water Study Plan

San Diego River Storm Water Proposal 2012 1

Storm Water Debris Issue

Proposal

San Diego River Park Foundation

2012

Prepared by:

Woody Arnold

River Watch Intern


INTRODUCTION

Since 2004, there have been many outreach efforts by the San Diego River

Park Foundation to educate local communities to restore the San Diego River to its

pristine state . The San Diego River originates near San Ysidro in East San Diego

County and runs through the El Capitan Reservoir, Lakeside, Santee, Mission

Valley and eventually drains out into the Pacific Ocean at Dog Beach in Ocean

Beach. The largest contributors to the pollution in the San Diego River come from

urban runoff from street surfaces and freeways via storm drains.

To address this problem and to reach out to the community specifically, the

San Diego River Park Foundation established River Blitz events where volunteers

go out into groups to identify invasive plants and various types of trash. Because of

these events, 1.3 million lbs of trash have been removed around the surrounding

habitats thanks to many volunteers over the past 5 years. These volunteer events

are used as indicators that guide other events, decisions, and projects. In addition,

this made surrounding communities, local government agencies, and businesses

more aware of the state of the San Diego River. This study will help determine

how to approach the problem of storm water debris and help decide on the best

course of action to solve the problem.

Besides discharges into the river, storm water runoff has been a common

problem for the San Diego River and around the world. Storm water runoff occurs

when precipitation of rain or snowmelt flows over the surface. One of the current

problems that our communities face today is that impervious surfaces such as

driveways, sidewalks, and streets prevent storm water runoff from flowing into the

ground. Storm water pollution can have many adverse environmental effects on

plants, fish, animals, and people. As a result, it pollutes the natural beauty of

bodies of water and affects our drinking water sources which can affect human

health and increase water treatment costs.


PROPOSED PLAN

Based on the findings from our River Blitz events over the course of 3 years, our

data shows that the following segments shown are hotspots for storm water debris

along with the pie charts of percentages of storm water debris analyzed.

Segment 86%

Segment 104% Segment 11

2%

Segment 1218%

Segment 1831%

Segment 19&2020%

Segment 2519%

Apr. 2010 Corrected Storm Water Debri Data

Segment 13%

Segment 1170%

Segment 127%

Segment 137%

Segment 1713%

Oct. 2010 Raw Storm Water Debris Data


Segment 14%

Segment 26%

Segment 414%

Segment 818%

Segment 92%

Segment 1253%

Segment 153%

April 2011 Corrected Storm Water Debris Data

Segment 13%

Segment 24% Segment 4

3%

Segment 107%

Segment 1241%Segment 13

10%

Segment 192%

Segment 21 & 232%

Segment 2222%

Segment 25a2%

Segment 274%

Oct. 2011 Corrected Storm Water Debris Data


Segment 86%

Segment 92%

Segement 121% Segement 13

2%

Segment 157%

Segment 1732%

Segment 191%

Segment 211%

Segment 253%

Segment 261%

Segment 17B & 1833%

Segment 7a11%

Stormwater Debris Apr. 2012 Corrected Data

Segment 84%

Segment 152%

Segment 211%

Segment 17B74%

Segments 19 and 208%

Forester Creek11%

Oct. 2012 Corrected Storm Water Debris Data


Proposed assessment sites:

Segment 10 in blue.

Segment 17 on the far left in red and Segment 18 in blue.


Segment 11 in green.

In addition to making these segments specific sites for this proposed study,

the Friends of the LA River have a good method of tracking the type of storm water debris through sorting the trash on site that the San Diego River Park Foundation can utilize. Since the San Diego River Park Foundation already has

volunteer events such as River Blitz and River Rescue, the plan proposed is to conduct the assessment of these segments during River Blitz while having people

who are willing to volunteer during the week for River Rescue or similar to sort out the storm water debris. The debris will then be sorted out in separate bags into

each of these categories:

Food Service Packaging(cups, etc.)

Snack and Candy Packaging

Bottles and Cans(California Redemption or CRV containers)

Non CRV containers

Molded Plastics

Wood

Cardboard

Clothes and Fabric

Cigarette Butts


Plastic Bags

Plastic Tarp

Polystyrene

Tires

Rubber

Other

For the assessment form that will go along with these segments during River Blitz

that will be titled "Storm Water Debris Assessment", it should be stressed and written; whenever possible; on the description section of the form as to where such

debris came from. Did the debris come from Starbucks? Budweiser? McDonald's? Goodrich? Vons? Those are some good examples of what a volunteer can write

down during these assessments. In addition, will also include the GPS reference points, picture numbers whenever necessary, number of trash bag equivalents, and

the mentioned categories using a number code. The reason for the number code is to ensure, for example, issues related to deciding whether certain debris are molded plastics or other plastics, are accurately recorded.


CONCLUSION

Although the sorting of picked up storm water debris can become time consuming,

it is a necessary step in creating monthly and yearly trends via histograms. By doing so will make this proposed study more specific, accurate, and address any

anomalies that can happen in this type of study. Also, by doing these storm water debris assessments during River Blitz, volunteers can be educated on where trash

and debris come from; not just the type of trash or the amount. Since, the environment revolves around various cycles, this study can give us a panoramic

picture of how we are keeping these cycles balanced related to the San Diego River Park Foundation's goal of creating a more pristine San Diego River and human

consumption and production.

Storm Water Study Plan

Documents

Transcript of Storm Water Study Plan