Improving Water Quality by Partnering

Improving Water Quality by Partnering With Private Property Owners: Six Steps to a Proactive Stormwater Program

Nathan Walker

The best way to understand the current public-private challenge facing stormwater management is to consider the following example:

The state determines that too much pollution is getting into a stream that flows through town. Runoff from buildings and blacktop washes grit into the stream, while the concentrated flows tear up its channel. Upstream, agricultural fields and suburban lawn runoff send excess nutrients into the stream, and trash from commercial districts blows into storm drains. The result is an aquatic habitat that becomes covered with silt and starved of oxygen. Over the past decade, local municipalities surrounding the stream, as well as private foundations and state government, have invested millions of dollars into fixing this issue by building wetlands, restoring floodplains, stabilizing streambanks, inspecting pollutant sources, and educating the public about what they can do to protect the stream.

While impressive in scope, these solutions have not been enough. The stream is still polluted and is not expected to meet water quality goals, even after 30 or more years of restoration efforts.

Nobody thinks that the stream will ever become as pristine as it was 400 years ago; however, it serves the triple bottom line to enact lasting improvements: S Profit - Keeping water clean at the source is more cost-effective than treating it downstream.

Figure 1. Six steps to a proactive stormwater program. S

S People - Access to clean water improves the quality of life for everyone in the community. Planet - Providing clean water is part of our role as stewards of our natural resources.

Similar scenarios are repeated in communities throughout the United States. Leaders are investing in stormwater management or restoration of streams, ponds, and lakes, with the expectation of protecting water quality and enhancing quality of life. Many complex challenges are addressing how to best tackle these issues—especially how to integrate climate change and resiliency into the solutions.

What the Next Decade of Managing Stormwater and Surface Water Looks Like, and Who Will Fund These Efforts

When discussing stormwater and surface water, communities and conservation groups will continue to pursue local stormwater and flood mitigation goals by applying for federal government funding and foundation grants. The real cost, however, of clean water and flood mitigation falls to local government. Since the local government has the authority to regulate land use, it also has the responsibility

to manage the water flowing from and through the resulting urban redevelopment.

In a community, does this responsibility come with a measurable goal defined by the public or a regulator? Perhaps it takes the form of several goals, such as: S Managing nutrient runoff to reduce toxic algae blooms by 40 percent. S Purchasing development rights on 400 acres within a groundwater recharge protection area. S Reducing the discharge of sediment by 4,000 tons. S Reducing the cost of flood damage to private property in a neighborhood by $4 million.

If local leaders gave a community $1 million, $10 million, or even $100 million— how would it be invested in stormwater management or flood mitigation projects? And, not just next year, but through, say, 2030? I would do two things in my town: rip out 2,000 unused parking spaces across the watershed and work with golf courses to restore the floodplain of the stream.

Easier said than done, right? Even though my solutions would be effective at improving water quality and flooding in my neighborhood, I can’t go to the shopping center and dig up those parking spaces or take out half the fairway on the 14th hole to plant a forested riparian buffer.

It may be that the best places to manage stormwater in the future are currently owned by someone else. Stormwater controls often are already in place in locations under government control, like town parks, within the public right of way, or at community facilities. In the coming decade, local leaders must look to form partnerships with private property owners to manage stormwater.

How would that program begin?

Six Steps to a Proactive Stormwater Program

Let’s walk through six steps (Figure 1) local leaders can take to establish a proactive and strategic stormwater program with impact.

Set Stormwater Management Goals

Primary drivers for acting on stormwater projects typically include flooding, water quality, and management of aging infrastructure. There are, however, a whole host of secondary drivers that communities should document to build a compelling case for investment in stormwater management. These include the following: S Urban greening S Traffic calming S Heat island reduction S Resilient public facilities S Reliable transportation networks S Community development

In short, what is your municipality’s “elevator speech” that describes both the primary and secondary drivers for investing in stormwater management and flood mitigation?

Document Prime Project Locations

Municipal staff is aware of the stormwater problem areas. A deliberate approach to surveying key staff would document 90 percent of the flooding, water quality, and infrastructure maintenance needs in the community. Then, a review of the surrounding topography and infrastructure can point decision makers to opportunities for water quality treatment features, detention structures, raised streets, new stormwater pump stations, or floodplain buyout options.

Further investigation to prioritize potential sites can include a review of completed neighborhood improvement plans, density of existing underground infrastructure, presence of soil contaminants, and the severity of flooding. These documented problem areas form the basis of an active and adjustable project list for local leaders to review and update as necessary, and adapt priorities regularly.

Establish Funding and Policies

Dedicated funding is key. Many communities are pivoting from funding stormwater programs using a general fund to a dedicated stormwater user fee. Whereas revenue for the general fund can be redirected from a proposed stormwater project to, for instance, the building a new bandshell at the park, funds from a stormwater fee must be dedicated to stormwater activities.

Grants and regional partnerships are certainly a tool in the tool belt, but they can’t be relied on when striving for long-term stormwater goals; therefore, by establishing a sustained level of funding every year with clear policies and priorities, local leaders can coordinate projects five or 10 years out with partners and private property owners. These coordinated partnerships can lead to moreefficient use of funds, when compared to the traditional approach of municipalities working alone and relying on the annual budget process to make sure that some funds are available for a project in the following year.

Engage Property Owners

Traditional public education campaigns associated with stormwater management consisted of posters at the public library and articles in the community newsletter. Today, proactive and strategic communities use tools like these to get the word out to property owners: S Stormwater design manual. A custom manual that documents the municipality’s preference for green infrastructure, basin design, green roofs, porous pavers (Figure 2), and other features can direct developer’s designs, streamline the land development process, and yield a design that is most impactful to achieving local stormwater goals. S Land development approval process. A land development plan reviews the process with defined points of communication between the developer and municipal staff, which can be more important than the design standards included in the code book. Proactive communities engage with developers early and often to communicate local goals, discover opportunities for partnerships on infrastructure projects, and uncover available incentives for promoting municipal stormwater initiatives. Continued on page 26

Figure 2. Although these porous pavers at a Ft. Lauderdale office complex have only a small footprint, they are able to infiltrate rainfall before it can wash pollutants to the river. Widespread implementation of this practice on private property during the redevelopment process can achieve measurable water quality results.

Mark A. DiNobile City of St. Petersburg Water Resources Department

Work title and years of service:

I’m the water distribution supervisor for the City of St. Petersburg. I have 30 years of experience as an apprentice, pipelayer, pipefitter, foreman, and supervisor

What does your job entail?

Ah, the daily life of a supervisor. What does it not entail? I would say that my daily activities at work include providing a sense of purpose and direction to those that I work with and around. Of course, that’s not the technical description of my job; technically, my job requires minimal supervision to uphold the rules and regulations of the city, state, and federal government. I maintain the standards of operation and training for our trade and provide clean and safe drinking water to our customers and residents, all while shuffling a mountain of paperwork, arguing with our employees that “computers are a good thing,” processing payroll, and listening to and resolving customer complaints.

I’m a trainer, mediator, translator, enforcer, friend, and sometimes enemy; the guy that you want to show up when you’re in trouble and the last person you want to see when you’re the one causing trouble. I oversee several work crews and plan and organize their work activities. I also deal with all of the good and bad that comes along with any organization.

What education and training have you had?

I currently hold a level 1 water distribution operator license from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and a backflow tester and backflow repair certification from FWPCOA, as well as a reclaimed site inspector associate in science degree in business from St. Petersburg College.

I’m trained as a laborer, heavy equipment operator, pipefitter, computer technician, MS Office semi-pro, financial planner, project manager, and emergency responder.

What do you like best about your job?

Year after year, no matter how much experience I gain, there always seems to be an endless supply of challenges that push me to new destinations. I’m constantly learning new things and meeting new people, and that makes it a bit less of a “job.”

What professional organizations do you belong to?

I belong to FWPCOA and FWEA, and that about covers it. I currently serve as the director of Region 4 for FWPCOA. The City of St. Petersburg maintains eight active apprenticeship programs that are registered with the State of Florida Department of Education. I currently serve as the chair of our Apprenticeship Committee and we have around sixty active apprentices.

How have the organizations helped your career?

These organizations have provided numerous training opportunities for me. Whether they were formal classroom sessions or the more relaxed informationsharing sessions normally seen at FSAWWA conferences, the presenters and their experiences have broadened my view of what’s actually possible.

I have also been invited to be an instructor for several of the FWPCOA short schools over the past five or six years and this has probably enhanced my ability to hear and understand other points of view more than everything else combined.

What do you like best about the industry?

Our industry is forever in the background of society. There is no glory in what we do, no parades or breakthrough discoveries on the ground level, but the pride that our tradesmen and women exude is inspirational. The work that we do is what our communities are built on and around.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I enjoy music. I’ve been playing guitar for around 35 years; not so much since the kids were born, but I still enjoy it when I get the chance. I like to draw, cook, do projects around the house, build home computers, and spend time with my wife and children. Continued from page 25 S Outreach to individual landowners.

Municipal leaders should reach out to private property owners, particularly those whose properties have been identified as having a high potential for managing stormwater. Early communication about the municipality’s overall goals, as well as ideas for the property, can help to bring local leaders to the table when the property owner is considering options for subdivision, development, or sale of the property. S Right of first refusal. Using this tool, municipalities can act on their list of priority parcels that have a high potential for managing stormwater goals. By claiming the right of first refusal, a municipality can purchase a property at the same purchase terms proposed in good faith by a third party.

Install Priority Projects

With available funding, approved policies, and defined guidelines in place, local leaders can sit down with private property owners to negotiate roles and responsibilities to get impactful projects in the ground. Local government can bring the resources to a partnership that has the potential to benefit all involved parties; however, only by doing the hard work of the previous four steps can a community gain access to these critical locations on private property to protect water resources, water quality, public safety, infrastructure, and private property.

Monitor and Maintain the Investment

Every municipality’s broader asset management program should include stormwater and flood mitigation infrastructure to protect the investment of public and private resources. It should clearly define responsibilities regarding who performs and funds regular inspection, routine maintenance, periodic repairs, and corrective measures.

What’s Next

The process defined here helps to build a foundation of local support for the most impactful projects, and bridges the gap between private property owners and local officials so they can work together. This is most effective when the process is written down, regularly reviewed, and adaptable to changing priorities. The result is a process that makes the scarce public dollar go farther to achieve local goals efficiently, and ultimately, provide cleaner water for the local community.

Nathan Walker, AICP, is senior water resources planner at Gannett Fleming in Valley Forge, Penn.

Continuous Learning

James J. Wallace, P.E.

President, FWEA

It’s hard to believe this FWEA Focus comes to you as we near the end of summer and beginning of school. This time of year always seems to pass by too fast. Hopefully, all who read this column have had the opportunity this summer to rest and recharge your batteries.

As I think about the return to schools and universities, in whatever form that will take this year, I think about the next generation in our industry. Specifically, this column will focus on interns, internships, young professionals, and professional development.

Interns and Internships

One of the earliest steps in the development of our industry’s next generation involves the exposure and learning opportunities we afford interns each year. To some, we engage in co-op programs that continue throughout the year. For many, including my experiences way back in the early 1990s, it involves summer engagements. These are unquestionably some of the most important experiences that fuel our industry.

I remember my internship experiences well, as they confirmed my desire to focus my career in the water industry. Hopefully, the current group of interns are exposed to unique learning experiences that fuel their desires to continue the pathway to becoming a water industry professional.

My encouragement to each individual and industry representative reading this column is to remember that each intern is potentially our next young professional and future industry leader. The work you do today to engage these talented students could lead to future solution providers and problem solvers.

Plant those seeds today, and let’s enjoy watching them grow in future years.

Young Professionals

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the many young professionals (YPs) in our industry. Hopefully, the excellent development opportunities that we, as an industry, provide through our internships translate into a motivated group of YPs. Beyond the fact that they are the next generation who will carry forward many of our current goals and visions, YPs are also the ones who will ultimately solve those problems most vexing to us today.

Beyond their stated importance to each of our organizations, I can attest from personal experience that YPs provide an energy, excitement, and wealth of unique

ideas that propel FWEA forward each and every year.

If you are a YP who has considered joining an industry organization, or you know of a good candidate, I encourage you to take that next step of involvement and/or encourage those candidates to get involved.

Professional Development

As we’ve focused this conversation on the development of the next generation through our interns and young professionals, it occurred to me that a consistent theme that applies to every one of us is professional development.

At each stage in a professional career, including annual and biannual requirements tied to professional licensure, professional development provides an opportunity to grow, learn, and stay sharp. As one of FWEA’s missions is to “provide the professional development of our members,” we will continue to be a resource to our membership to provide continuing education on important and current topics.

We have worked hard over the past few months to develop and refine our “virtual” tools to offer programs and content as we continue to socially distance. Be on the lookout for these new opportunities that will be provided throughout the fall of 2020 and in the years beyond.

As famously stated by Albert Einstein: “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only after death.”