Latest Developments - Effectiveness Assessment and Research Priorities Geoff Brosseau California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA) December 4, 2007

Presentation Outline  California Stormwater Quality Association  Assessing Program Effectiveness  Research Priorities

California Stormwater Quality Association  Founded as the Stormwater Quality Task Force – official technical advisory body to State Water Board  Nonprofit public benefit 501(c)(3) corporation  Professional member association dedicated to the advancement of stormwater quality management through: collaboration, collaboration, education, education, regulatory review, regulatory review, implementation guidance, implementation guidance, and scientific assessment. and scientific assessment.  Specific purpose is to assist those entities charged with stormwater quality management responsibilities with the development and implementation of stormwater quality goals and programs  Practitioners of stormwater quality management  Technical focus

Collaboration / Education / Implementation guidance / Scientific assessment  Meetings General Membership meetings (1991- ) General Membership meetings (1991- ) Workshops (BMP Handbooks, ASBS) Workshops (BMP Handbooks, ASBS) Conferences (2005- ) Conferences (2005- )  Guidance BMP Handbooks (3/93 and 1/03) BMP Handbooks (3/93 and 1/03) Retail Gasoline Outlet (RGO) BMP Guide (3/97) Retail Gasoline Outlet (RGO) BMP Guide (3/97) Construction Stormwater Sampling & Analysis Guidance (10/01) Construction Stormwater Sampling & Analysis Guidance (10/01) Effectiveness Assessment White Paper (10/05) Effectiveness Assessment White Paper (10/05) Resource Library – Public education materials (12/05) Resource Library – Public education materials (12/05) Stormwater Monitoring and Research Priorities (3/07) Stormwater Monitoring and Research Priorities (3/07) Effectiveness Assessment Manual (5/07) Effectiveness Assessment Manual (5/07)

Assessing Program Effectiveness

Measuring Effectiveness  What impact is my program having?  What is changing as a result of my program?

Survey says…  Need for guidance on how to measure effectiveness of stormwater programs  CASQA response White paper on effectiveness assessment White paper on effectiveness assessment Guidance document Guidance document

CASQA Guidance Document 1. Introduction 2. Effectiveness Assessment Overview 3. Strategies for Assessing Effectiveness 4. Methods for Assessing Effectiveness 5. Fact Sheets for Program Elements 6. Water Quality & Overall Program Assessment

Iterative Program Management & Evaluation STEP #1 PLANNING STEP # 3b WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT STEP # 3a IMPLEMENTATION ASSESSMENT STEP #2 IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM MODIFICATION INTEGRATION

Identifying Outcome Levels

Assessment Outcome Levels Level 1 – Documenting Stormwater Program Activities Level 2 – Raising Awareness Level 3 – Changing Behavior Level 4 – Reducing Loads from Sources Level 5 – Improving Runoff Quality Level 6 – Protecting Receiving Water Quality Increasing Difficulty Municipal Program Effectiveness Assessment

Attributes of Assessment Method  Assess Effort (Outcome Level 1) Effort (Outcome Level 1) Achievement (Outcome Levels 2 - 6) Achievement (Outcome Levels 2 - 6)  Type Narrative or qualitative Narrative or qualitative Numeric or quantifiable Numeric or quantifiable  Progress Effort  Achievement Effort  Achievement Qualitative  Numeric or quantifiable Qualitative  Numeric or quantifiable

Challenges to measuring stormwater program effectiveness (Cause –?  Effect) (Action –?  Outcome)  Degrees of separation phenomenon  Complicating effects of integrating all inputs  Outcome Level is defined by: Type of BMP being measured Type of BMP being measured Power of BMP Power of BMP

Implementation Success Story: Pesticides and Stormwater In 1998, using Clean Water Act authority, California Water Boards and USEPA: listed waterbodies in virtually every urbanized area of California as impaired by pesticides and toxicity listed waterbodies in virtually every urbanized area of California as impaired by pesticides and toxicity required that TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loads) be calculated and that dischargers (local governments) reduce the amount of these pesticides in the waterbodies to the TMDL targets (max. allowable amount) required that TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loads) be calculated and that dischargers (local governments) reduce the amount of these pesticides in the waterbodies to the TMDL targets (max. allowable amount)

Implementation Success Story: Pesticides and Stormwater (cont’)  In 2000 – USEPA announces the phase out of diazinon products  By 2002 – the amount of reported diazinon applications has decreased substantially  By 2006 – Aquatic toxicity and diazinon concentrations in urban creeks have decreased dramatically – in many cases below TMDL targets

Diazinon are levels dropping quickly and significantly

Implementation Success Story: Pesticides and Stormwater  By 2006 – Aquatic toxicity and diazinon concentrations in urban creeks have decreased dramatically – in many cases below TMDL targets - Level 6 Outcome – Protecting receiving water quality  USEPA and DPR changing the way pesticides are regulated to address/prevent water quality problems / Retailer data show less-toxic product sales ↑ - Level 3 Outcome – Changing behavior  Surveys - Level 2 Outcome – Raising awareness

Assessment Outcome Levels Level 1 – Documenting Stormwater Program Activities Level 2 – Raising Awareness Level 3 – Changing Behavior Level 4 – Reducing Loads from Sources Level 5 – Improving Runoff Quality Level 6 – Protecting Receiving Water Quality Increasing Difficulty Municipal Program Effectiveness Assessment

Research Priorities

Project Tasks  Survey and review projects conducted by research organizations  Organize and compile relevant stormwater research projects  Conduct CASQA members survey and finalize results  Update research priorities list and prepare research concept descriptions

Studies by Sponsoring Organization  316 project descriptions in database  Includes 28 ongoing or planned (Caltrans) Sponsoring Organization No. of Studies Caltrans116 SCCWRP91 WERF59 NWRI-CANADA27 NWRI-USA9 BASMAA7 NCHRP7 Total316

Research Topics and Subtopics

Research Topics and Sub- Topics, cont’d

Studies by Research Topic Research Topic No of Studies BMP Evaluations (incl. source controls) 98 Receiving Water Impacts 93 Runoff Characterization and Assessment 52 Information Management and Technology Exchange 33 Watershed Planning and Management 28 Regulation Development and Assessment 12

Member Survey  Survey requested information on Prioritization of research sub-topics Prioritization of research sub-topics Specific research questions Specific research questions Recent research project descriptions Recent research project descriptions

13 Respondents  Cities of Davis, Downey, Monterey, San Diego  Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District  Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory  Caltrans  CSU Sacramento  5 Consultants  1 Anonymous

Survey Rankings by Topic Rank Topic Heading Weighted Total 1 B: BMP Evaluation (Including Source Control) A: Runoff Characterization and Assessment E: Regulatory Development and Assessment D: Information Management and Data Exchange C: Receiving Waters Impacts F: Watershed Planning and Management 24

Priority Research Projects  31 research projects developed that addressed related priority research areas, as shown in next slide

Priority Projects by Relative Rank

Detailed Project Descriptions for Top 10 Priority Projects  Problem statement  Project objectives  Proposed tasks  Estimated budget range  Short list of relevant publications  Relevant recent or ongoing studies from surveyed research organizations

Recommended Future Work  We received additional suggestions on research organizations that could be surveyed in future  Develop an online stormwater research project database for CASQA (currently in development by Geosyntec), that members can search for relevant research, and obtain reports, papers, and contact researchers

Next Steps for CASQA  Continue to populate the database with ongoing projects and update research needs  CASQA committees will consider research needs to update their work focus  CASQA may look for member agencies to partner on complete research and potentially partner with others

Thank you