Resources for Phase II Permittees

This part of the website is dedicated to providing resources for the cities and counties in Oklahoma that have Phase I and Phase II stormwater permits, or any other city that may wish to develop a stormwater protection program for their community.  Over the past five years, INCOG has assembled and created a substantial amount of material for permittees.  These include model ordinances, PowerPoint presentations on various technical issues, inspection forms, education materials, guidance documents, and summaries of technical issues facing permittees. 

The information on this “yellow” website for permittees will be updated periodically as new material is obtained and developed.  Please refer to this page periodically for technical and resource updates.

What's New for Permittees

The following is recently updated information about stormwater pollution and urban water quality protection.  Items will be added frequently, so please visit this page to view items of current interest.

Using Rainwater to Grow Livable Communities

Sustainable Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs)

Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) are gaining recognition as effective, flexible, and environmentally sound ways for controlling the quantity and improving the quality of stormwater runoff, while also adding amenity to a wide variety of development projects.  This website (http://www.werf.org/livablecommunities/) is designed to encourage and facilitate the integration of stormwater BMPs into development projects in your area by providing tools and resources for effective communication and implementation as well as in-depth case studies that examine BMP integration in several cities across the United States.

Ripple Effect

Low-impact Development Conference & Charette

May 6, 7 & 8  in Springfield, Missouri

Two opportunities: PDH's and AIA Certified CEU's available for conference and charrette.

May 6th and 7th is the Ripple Effect Design Charrette. Excellent opportunity to work closely with the experienced folks from Applied Ecological Services. Cost for 2-day Charrette is $200. You may also attend day 2 of the Conference for an additional $75.

May 7th and 8th is the Ripple Effect Conference. Focus is Low Impact Development for the reduction of stormwater. Click here to view agenda. Cost is $150.

Brownfields and Green Infrastructure

EPA's Brownfields office, has just published two 4-page fact sheets on stormwater management and brownfields. They demonstrate that green infrastructure and low impact development principles can often be used to great effect even in brownfield redevelopment contexts where the underlying soils cannot be disturbed. The fact sheets provide general background explanations, example, and additional resources. They are very well done.

Design Principles for Stormwater Management on Compacted, Contaminated Soils in Dense Urban Areas http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/publications/swdp0408.pdf

Case Studies for Stormwater Management on Compacted, Contaminated Soils in Dense Urban Areas http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/publications/swcs0408.pdf

EPA Green Parking Lot Guidance

A new guidance document is just in from EPA Headquarters as part of the Green Infrastructure educational material ( of which there will be more in the coming year). This guidance will be useful whether you are retrofitting established areas, newly developing along the urban fringe or, transforming newly "discovered" rural communities and open space. Making this available to municipal employees for review can also be part of phase II stormwater employee education material. The document can be downloaded from the Oklahoma Stream Team website at http://www.streamteamok.net/Doc_link/Green Parking Lot Guide (final).PDF. Also, please refer to other links to websites and documents regarding LID and stream restoration on the OST website.

Putting Down Roots

The Oklahoma City Planning Department has prepared "Putting Down Roots," a 116-page guide to choosing and taking care of trees for central Oklahoma landscapes. This guide features full-color photos and information about more than 50 trees appropriate for Oklahoma landscapes.  Much of the information in this guidance can provide technical information important to Green Country Stormwater Alliance and Oklahoma Stream Team members as well as for the general public.  You can download the book now in Adobe Acrobat format (150MB) with a cable or other broadband Internet connection.  Or read the book online here.

Using Rainwater to Grow Communities

U.S. communities are poised to take advantage of the perfect storm, according to the Water Environment Research Foundation. The foundation recently unveiled a new website, available by clicking here, that gives landscape architects, designers, engineers, stormwater managers, elected officials and the public creative new ideas on sustainable stormwater practices. The site also provides practical tools, frameworks for implementation and planning aids that can be adapted to your community or project.

Resources for Development of Water Quality Management Plans

Spreadsheet Tool for Estimating Pollutant Load (STEPL) employs simple algorithms to calculate nutrient and sediment loads from different land uses and the load reductions that would result from the implementation of various best management practices (BMPs).STEPL provides a user-friendly Visual Basic (VB) interface to create a customized spreadsheet-based model in Microsoft (MS) Excel. It computes watershed surface runoff; nutrient loads, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and 5-day biological oxygen demand (BOD5); and sediment delivery based on various land uses and management practices. For each watershed, the annual nutrient loading is calculated based on the runoff volume and the pollutant concentrations in the runoff water as influenced by factors such as the land use distribution and management practices. The annual sediment load (sheet and rill erosion only) is calculated based on the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and the sediment delivery ratio. The sediment and pollutant load reductions that result from the implementation of BMPs are computed using the known BMP efficiencies.  The model can be found at http://it.tetratech-ffx.com/stepl/

A companion software tool for use with AVGWLF has been developed for evaluating the implementation of both agricultural and non-agricultural pollution reduction strategies at the watershed level. This new tool, called PRedICT (Pollution Reduction Impact Comparison Tool), allows the user to create various “scenarios” in which current landscape conditions and pollutant loads (both point and non-point) can be compared against “future” conditions that reflect the use of different pollution reduction strategies (best management practices) such as agricultural and urban BMPs, the conversion of septic systems to centralized wastewater treatment, and upgrading of treatment plants from primary to secondary to tertiary. This tool includes pollutant reduction coefficients for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment, and also has built-in cost information for an assortment of pollution mitigation techniques. Two different cost-accounting approaches are used in the present version to help a user identify the most efficient reduction strategy in terms of both pollution reduction and cost. While information for PRedICT can be compiled manually, the most efficient way to accomplish this task is to use the AVGWLF watershed modeling system. Among others things, this tool automatically creates a “scenario” file that can be used as input to PRedICT. This input file contains useful information on watershed conditions and pollutant loads that can serve as the “initial” conditions from which future scenarios can be developed.  The model can be found at www.predict.psu.edu

Urban BMP Performance Tool

EPA has created this new web-based tool (no document) to provide stormwater professionals with easy access to approximately 220 studies assessing the performance of over 275 stormwater BMPs. The Tool provides access to studies covering a variety of traditional and low impact BMP types, including retention and detention ponds, biofilters, grassed filter strips, porous pavement, wetlands, and others. Users will also find a series of essays aimed at improving understanding of BMP performance and the importance of volume reduction/infiltration in these assessments.

EPA plans to add more studies to this Tool over the coming year, focusing on expanding the collection of studies of low impact development or green infrastructure BMPs. The Urban BMP Performance Tool can be accessed at www.epa.gov/npdes/urbanbmptool

Stormwater Webcast Series

EPA’s popular webcast series for municipal stormwater professionals will resume again on February 6, 2008. This year will feature five webcasts on a variety of topics, including BMP Performance, Stormwater Retrofits, Finding and Fixing Illicit Discharges, and MS4 Program Performance. Based on many requests, EPA will also offer a Stormwater 101 Course in the Summer. As in past years, this year’s line up will feature speakers who are national experts, and each webcast will build upon the array of information covered in past webcasts. To see the new schedule (and to access recorded versions of past webcasts), please visit www.epa.gov/npdes/training

Reducing Stormwater Costs through Low Impact Development (LID) Strategies and Practices

Publication Number EPA 841-F-07-006, December 2007

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a new report "Reducing Stormwater Costs through Low Impact Development (LID) Strategies and Practices," which contains 17 case studies from across North America that show the economic viability of LID practices. Using these practices in construction projects can lower costs while improving environmental results.  LID practices are innovative stormwater management practices to manage urban stormwater runoff at its source. The goal is to mimic the way water moved through an area before it was developed by using design techniques that infiltrate, evapotranspirate, and reuse runoff close to its source. Some common LID practices include rain gardens, grassed swales, cisterns, rain barrels, permeable pavements and green roofs. LID practices increasingly are used by communities across the country to help protect and restore water quality.  The report highlights examples that, in most cases, reduce project costs while improving environmental performance. Total capital savings ranged from 15 to 80 percent, with a few exceptions in which LID project costs were higher than conventional stormwater management costs. As LID practices become more common, it is likely that they will become cheaper to use.  This report provides information to cities, counties, states, private-sector developers and others on the costs and benefits of using Low Impact Development (LID) strategies and practices to help protect and restore water quality.  To download the document, question and answers sheet, and a fact sheet, visit the website at:  http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/lid/costs07/

Using Rainwater to Grow Livable Communities

A recently completed Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) project has developed a new website to facilitate the integration of stormwater BMPs into development projects.  The website is public-friendly and can be used by municipalities and others to educate and inform constituents and stakeholders about sustainable stormwater practices.  Learn about Kansas City’s “10,000 rain gardens” initiative, Chicago’s green roofs program, or how Philadelphia is converting vacant land covered with trash and debris into valuable assets that offer stormwater management benefits.  Information from these and other case studies, as well as tools that can be used for effective communication on sustainable stormwater BMPs, is available at www.werf.org/livablecommunities.

Black & Veatch Releases Storm Water Utility Survey Results

Respondents address planning, operations, administration and financial challenges.
November 13, 2007

Black & Veatch's management consulting division, Enterprise Management Solutions, has announced the availability of its 2007 National Stormwater Utility Survey. The survey is conducted every other year and is designed to help industry professionals stay informed about ongoing issues.  The survey is part of Black & Veatch's goal to provide information that assists the water industry in long-term resource planning to address storm water challenges and sustain the quality of life in the communities it serves. Survey respondents range from municipalities and utilities with a few thousand to a million or more customer accounts. The 2007 survey offers insights into planning, operations, administration and financial management of U.S. and Canadian storm water utilities.  The survey results are available at www.bv.com/stormwatersurvey . Printed copies are also available by e-mailing stormwater@bv.com .

NPDES Compliance Monitoring Strategy Released

[INCOG Note - the following received from an EPA email] EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance has issued its "Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Compliance Monitoring Strategy for the Core Program and Wet Weather Sources." This new strategy, which takes effect in 2009, outlines inspection and compliance goals for the entire NPDES program, including major and minor NPDES facilities, pretreatment programs, biosolids, CSOs, SSOs, stormwater, and CAFOs. It places increased emphasis on wet weather issues, particularly stormwater sources, and sets ambitious targets for audits and inspections of Phase I and II MS4s, construction sites, and industrial facilities. For more information, please visit www.epa.gov/compliance/monitoring/programs/cwa/npdes.html

Model Stormwater Construction SWPPPs

[INCOG Note - from an EPA email. The SWP3 templates and guidance are but one of many potential resources available to permittees.] To supplement the popular "Developing Your Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan: A Guide for Construction Sites" (commonly known as the EPA SWPPP Guide), two "model or example" SWPPPs have been developed. The first example SWPPP is for a medium-sized residential subdivision and the second is for a small commercial site. Both examples utilize the SWPPP template that is part of the SWPPP Guide. These examples use hypothetical sites and conditions to demonstrate the development of a SWPPP that meets permit requirements and accurately describes the steps being taken to prevent stormwater pollution. An updated version of the SWPPP template is also available. To view these model SWPPPs or to access any of EPA’s SWPPP resources, please visit www.epa.gov/npdes/swpppguide

New Nitrogen and Phosphorus Pollution Website

Revised Nitrogen and Phosphorus Pollution website. www.epa.gov/waterscience/nutrients/

The redesigned Nitrogen and Phosphorus website houses scientific literature reviews, monitoring data, guidance manuals and webcast presentations. These tools will help states establish numeric water quality criteria for nitrogen and phosphorus, which will make it easier for states to set limits on the amounts of those pollutants that are allowed to enter waters. The website also contains answers to states' questions about how to use the criteria to achieve water body goals, as well as a clearinghouse of water treatment technologies and land-use practices that will help degraded water bodies meet their nutrient criteria. Individuals can also visit the new website to find out what they can do to prevent excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus from entering local water bodies.

New Fundamentals of Urban Runoff Management Document Now Available

A second edition of a popular publication called "Fundamentals of Urban Runoff Management: Technical and Institutional Issues" was recently published by the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS). This document revises an earlier 1994 edition and was prepared with support from EPA's Office of Wastewater Management and the Nonpoint Source Control Branch in EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds. The update is important because of the tremendous amount of new information available as well as the significant shift in stormwater program direction from the historic mitigation-based approach to a more source-based approach. Copies of the document are posted in pdf format at: http://www.nalms.org/Resources/PDF/Fundamentals/Fundamentals_full_manual.pdf

Planning for Stormwater: Parking Lots

The University of Connecticut's Planning for Stormwater website includes an overview of paved parking areas and their impact on stormwater runoff. This NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) website focuses on the site planning concepts presented in Connecticut's Stormwater Quality Manual.

Paved parking lots are typically designed to collect and concentrate large areas of stormwater runoff, which can impact a receiving stream's hydrography as well as water quality. Paved parking lots can generate heat, raising the surrounding areas air temperature and the temperature of the first flush of stormwater, creating significant ecological impacts. In Washington, the City of Olympia's Public Works Department found that parking lots account for 53% of imperviousness on a commercial site and 15% of multi-family sites. These figures are typical of most communities. Therefore, careful attention to their design will go a long way toward protecting your community's water resources.

Find out more and get tips about reducing runoff from parking lots the resource link below.

Resource: http://nemo.uconn.edu/tools/stormwater/parking_lots.htm

EPA - NPDES Contacts

This EPA website provides contact information and links to stormwater regulatory resources for EPA headquarters, EPA regions and for each State's permitting authority.

http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/contacts.cfm?program_id=6&type=ALL

Stormwater Management and Green Infrastructure

Stormwater Management and Green Infrastructure is a two-page fact sheet that outlines green infrastructure initiatives developed by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT). CNT's goal is to make Green Infrastructure the preferred stormwater management option for municipalities, developers, communities, and individuals. Ranging from Research and Demonstration Projects to Policy Projects to CNT's Green Values Toolbox, these initiatives provide opportunities for developers, regulators, or property owners to weigh the benefits of a Green Infrastructure versus conventional Stormwater management. The flyer can be downloaded at: http://www.cnt.org/repository/NR-General.pdf