1. Linking Transportation Infrastructure and Water Quality
2018 FLORIDA WATER FORUM
Linking Transportation
Infrastructure and Water Quality
For years now, FDOT has been striving for more holistic stormwater management as part of its highway work program. It is time to ask some pointed questions:
Where are we?
Where do we want to be?
How do we get there from here?
Our initial conclusion is, [click]
But don’t be dismayed: we will present a bigger boat in this presentation.
October 4, 2018

2. How Do We Get There from Here?
Ann and Carl have addressed the first two questions:
Where are we?
Where do we want to be?
Most FDOT Projects – Traditional Roadside Ponds
Champions Still Swimming Upstream - Occasional Extraordinary Projects
Agencies Leadership: More FDOT innovative projects
But, How do we get there from here? How do we do better?
Our conclusion ? [click]
But don’t be dismayed: we will present parts of the bigger boat in this presentation.

3. Needed Directions… (Part of the Bigger Boat)
FDOT:
Formal Process for Pursuing Innovation,
Partner Search Tools,
MUCH Earlier, Aggressive Pursuit of Stormwater Partnerships
Florida Regulatory Agencies: Targeted Legislation to Enable Flexibility
Federal Regulatory Agencies…
Here is what we think is missing... [click]
Formal processes for non-traditional stormwater solutions including building in more time for pursuit of stormwater innovation.
Partner search tools to more easily locate partners for cooperative stormwater projects
MUCH earlier and more aggressive pursuit of available innovative options and partnerships
FDOT is crafting the formal process and is poised to develop the GIS tool.
[click] What is missing on the state regulatory side? WMD reviewers need a clear, defensible path for ERP approval of innovative options. HB 599, passed in 2012, advocated flexibility for FDOT projects but never specifically addressed the regulatory impediments, for example, to regional ponds... more about this later.
[click] Federal agencies? Well, we have a strategy there, also… [click]
17 January 2019

4. … What’s in Your Stormwater Program?
Choices…
… What’s in Your Stormwater Program?
So, to help us find more of the “bigger boat”, let’s compare two publicly-funded programs of stormwater treatment and ask the question, [click]
We will look briefly at Ann’s program & FDOT’s program. First, FDOT.

5. Study of FDOT Ponds – Costs
Ponds Purchased, 2005 – 2009 (inclusive): R/W and Construction Costs
R/W Costs Include Eminent Domain Costs
Improvements
Cost to Cure
Business Damages
Attorney Fees
Experts’ Costs
Relocation
As part of support for HB 599 in 2012, CO Drainage looked at pond costs over a 5-year period just before the recession. The study was never published, but the results were presented to the Legislature by FDOT Secretary Ananth Prasad.

6. FDOT Pond R/W Costs per Acre
What we found was shocking! We knew that constructing ponds in developed areas often results in significant costs, but we did not foresee this! How many of you out there would pay $10 - $20M for a 5-acre stormwater pond?
Shocking enough to move the Legislature to act!
Data Source: FDOT CO HB599 Cost Study

7. Study of FDOT Ponds – Nutrient Removal & Efficiency
Estimated annual nutrient removal using…
Basin area & characteristics
Pond size
Annualized up-front costs over 20 years of performance
Since we had the cost data, we asked the districts for best estimates of basin and pond parameters to get cost/benefit data.
[click] …what do you think?
Now let’s see what Ann is up to… [click]
TN C/B: $1,140/lb-N
TP C/B: $5,037/lb-P

8. SJRWMD identified some stormwater projects in this 2017 publication.
Here are some of her C/B numbers - [click] …do you see a difference?

9. Comparison of SJRWMD and FDOT Approaches
TN Average: $1,140/lb-N
TP Average: $5,037/lb-P
SJRWMD Projects
TN Range: $24 - $156/lb-TN
TP Range: $148 - $1400/lb-TP
So let’s summarize…
[click] … so where would you rather your public dollars go?
So how do we fix this? We need a bigger boat! [click]
FDOT TN C/B: 13x Greater
FDOT TP C/B: 7x Greater

10. Prudent Funding of Stormwater Improvements
Wisdom
Authority
Funding
So, what makes for a good program?
[click] We must have funding. What else?
[click] How about the wisdom to pick efficient projects! What else is missing? Its not as obvious…
[click] We also need the authority to enact our public-interest stormwater decisions
So how do we align funding, wisdom, and authority? [click]

11. Constrained to Adjacent R/W Prudent Locations, Matching Funds
FDOT SJRWMD
$100 M/yr
$10M/yr
Constrained to Adjacent R/W
Prudent Locations, Matching Funds
Money: The big money flows through FDOT
Wise Project Selection: Where are the best projects?…[click] where good folks are free to choose what makes sense to do
Authority: what is the vehicle for getting needed R/W?
… but why not this: [click] Allow FDOT to satisfy ERP rules as currently written OR invest in other projects that produce more environmental benefit.
So why NOT? …why shouldn’t we take our tax dollars to the best projects? FDOT is a state agency with environmental stewardship in its mission statement: why not treat FDOT as a state agency rather than a developer?
Eminent Domain
Willing Sellers or Existing Lands

12. Legislation Would Grant Authority for FDOT to…
Satisfy pre/post water quality at the outlet of the MS4 to the downstream resource rather than the boundary of the FDOT R/W
Fund local government, WMD, NEP type projects achieving more environmental improvement for the downstream resource
Build or fund resource remediation efforts within the protected water
Allows usage of intermediate conveyance facilities, within the MS4, to convey runoff to a downstream regional pond.
Allows FDOT to fund projects within the MS4 watershed
Allows FDOT to fund/construct improvements within the downstream resource

13. Examples of Other Environmental Improvements
Take Septic Tanks Offline
Dredge Legacy Sediments – Lake Toho, Lake O, etc.
Improve Coastal Estuary or Lake Circulation/Flushing
Additional Effluent Treatment for WTPs
Agriculture Partnering
Regional Treatment with Recharge and/or Reuse
Here are the kinds of smart project FDOT could do IF FDOT could get to them.
Results: MUCH more environmental benefit for less money – common sense investment
FDOT is considering this legislation for this coming 2019 Session… stay tuned!

14. Thank you…
17 January 2019