Life Sciences Commons^™

Nutrient Concentrations And Effects On Mill Run From Residential, Urban, And Industrial Stormwater Contamination, Melissa Carver

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Nutrients are introduced into the waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through various methods, mainly through point and non-point sources. Non-point sources would include agricultural means however, there are often other non-point sources that are often overlooked. Water runoff from stormwater is an important contributor to pollution entering various watersheds. Data was collected at 4 locations (the initial point of reference, residential, urban, and industrial) on Mill Run and 2 locations on Woodcock Creek, through surface water collection methods in dry and wet weather. Nitrate, Nitrite, Total Phosphorus, and Total Nitrogen were among the data collected. Total Phosphorus had an …

Application Of Genomics To Develop A Monitoring Tool For Stormwater Treatment Wetlands, Jessica Lenoble, Chris Johnston, James Atwater, Susan Baldwin

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Urban stormwater treatment wetlands benefit communities because they filter pollutants from receiving waters and provide habitat for urban wildlife and birds. The installation of wetlands is often avoided because stormwater quality is highly variable, which makes it both challenging and expensive to ensure that the wetlands are effectively mitigating the impacts of stormwater runoff. For decades, macroscopic species, such as benthic invertebrates, have been used as biological indicators of watershed health. With recent advancements in genomics (the branch of science that studies the function and structure of DNA within a single cell), it may now be feasible to use microscopic …

Assessing 21st Century Contaminants Of Concern Using Integrative Passive Sampling Devices To Obtain More Meaningful And Cost Effective Data On Impacts From Stormwater Runoff, Robert Johnston, Michelle Aylward, Gunther Rosen, Jonathan Strivens, Nicholas Schlafer, Jill M. Brandenberger, Nicholas Hayman, Jason Belden, Marienne Colvin, Heather Jennings, Matt Jabloner, Paul Caswell

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

In many cases stormwater compliance monitoring is labor intensive, expensive, and largely unsuccessful in providing the data needed to support stormwater management goals. In addition, data from manual grab sampling and automated composite sampling are rarely collected in a manner that provides the information required to identify sources of contamination, evaluate the effectiveness of Best Management Practices, and inform effective decision making. Furthermore, monitoring is often driven by the need to meet low concentration benchmarks for metals and other constituents that do not take into account loading into the receiving waters, resulting in arbitrary monitoring requirements (monthly or seasonally) that …

Efficacy Of Compost Amended Biofiltration Swales As Green Stormwater Infrastructure For Treatment Of Toxicants In Salish Sea Road Run-Off, Benjamin D. Leonard, Katherine T. Peter, Bowen W. Du, Edward Kolodziej, Nathaniel L. Scholz, John D. Stark, Jenifer K. Mcintyre

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Biofiltration swales, or bioswales, use vegetated soil substrates to filter contaminants from stormwater, decrease sediment load, and reduce erosion. Following a storm, runoff moves slowly through the swale at a shallow depth. While stormwater is retained in the bioswales, pollutants are removed by the combined effects of filtration, infiltration, settling, and biotransformation. The system currently being evaluated at the Washington State University (WSU) Puyallup Research and Extension Center (PREC) uses compost to further enhance the ability of bioswales to remove toxicants. WSDOT has created guidelines for constructing compost amended biofiltration swales (CABS) and implemented a field test for CABS along …

Washington State Phase I County Watershed-Scale Stormwater Planning Studies: A Long Term Plan To Identify Stormwater Management Strategies To Improve Receiving Waters, Dan Gariépy, Andy Rheaume

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Washington State Department of Ecology’s 2013-2018 NPDES Municipal Stormwater permittees conducted detailed hydrologic modeling studies to demonstrate how planned development could be accommodated while restoring the beneficial and designated uses to the receiving waters in urbanized watersheds. The jurisdictions used modeling tools including HSPF hydrologic modeling, in-stream ecological targets, and cost optimization tool to determine the most cost effective set of infrastructure to achieve in-stream ecological targets). This talk focusses on the lessons learned from those plans, looking across the plans for similarities and differences. Each of the four counties (Snohomish, King, Pierce, Clark) selected a medium sized (10+ square …

Constructing A Multi-Jurisdictional Watershed-Scale Stormwater And Habitat Recovery Plan For Bear Creek, Jeff Burkey, Timothy Clark

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

King County recently finalized the Bear Creek Watershed-scale Stormwater Management Plan. Bear Creek has impaired water quality and hydrology and degraded instream, riparian, and wetland habitats. The Bear Creek watershed includes several jurisdictions, including two cities and two counties. King County and its partners held several public and technical meetings to receive and incorporate feedback from watershed residents, tribes, non-governmental organizations, and state agencies. King County led the collaborative effort to evaluate existing water quality, hydrological, and habitat conditions, model future conditions based on forecasted growth and development, and recommend actions and strategies to achieve the defined watershed goals. Recommended …

Performance Of Porous Asphalt Pavements: Stormwater Quantity And Quality Mitigation, Anand Jayakaran, Thorsten Knappenberger, John D. Stark, Curtis Hinman

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Recent advances in several broadly allied scientific disciplines have shown that green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) can to some extent restore the natural pathways that stormwater takes from landscape to stream. Permeable pavements are one of several GSI techniques that are commonly used across the country to mitigate the effects of stormwater on downstream receiving waters. In the State of Washington, the use of GSI is mandated for any new or retrofit construction project that meets certain criteria. The talk will focus on performance studies of a 9-cell replicated asphalt pavement test facility that is installed at the Washington State University …

Regional Approaches Using Green Stormwater Solutions: Multi-Benefit/Functional Stormwater Parks In Kitsap County, Christopher May

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Stormwater management has evolved from simple flood reduction to conventional water quality treatment to flow-control AND water-quality to the current low impact development (LID) or Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) approach. Along the way, we have utilized stormwater best management practices (BMP's) at various scales, from neighborhood ponds to large regional facilities, to the small distributed BMP's that characterize the LID/GSI approach. Based on our experience in Kitsap County, we believe that a blending of approaches, both conventional and green, as well as working at multiple scales is necessary to effectively manage the impacts of our urbanizing landscape. Our stormwater retrofit …

Assessment Of Macroinvertebrate Communities And Heavy Metal Contamination Along The Intracoastal Waterway In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Robert Bernhard

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Sediments from four areas adjacent to marinas and a background site in the Intracoastal Waterway were assessed for macroinvertebrate composition and heavy metal contamination. Sediment core samples were collected in 2004 and 2005 for analyses of macroinvertebrate composition and sediment grain size. Additional sediment samples were collected in 2005 for chemical analyses of metals (Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Hg, Ni and Zn). MANOVA and dendograms using Bray-Curtis similarity matrices grouped the sites into two clusters: the 3 sites closest to the New River formed one group, and the two end sites formed the other. The sites nearest …

Issue Brief: Asset Management For Stormwater, New England Environmental Finance Center, Sustainable Communities Learning Network

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

Asset management is a strategic approach to maintaining and sustaining infrastructure in order to meet the needs of the community at the lowest overall life cycle cost. This approach helps communities know how and where to prioritize limited funds in order to achieve the greatest benefit. Often applied to drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, this method is well suited to managing any assets, including stormwater systems.

This issue brief is intended to introduce local governments to the asset management process and to show how it can be applied in managing stormwater assets. It was adapted from an appendix written by …