1. School of Natural Resources Gund Institute of Ecological Economics
Redesigning the American Neighborhood Developing an Ecological & Socioeconomic Framework for Effective Stormwater Management
School of Natural Resources - UVM
School of Natural Resources
Gund Institute of Ecological Economics
Alan McIntosh, Breck Bowden, Alexey Voinov, John Todd Alex Hackman, and Tim White

2. The National Geographic Society (2001)
The US at Night (1993 vs 2001)
The National Geographic Society (2001)

3. Urban Sprawl in New England
Burlington
growth
fragmentation
corridors
The National Geographic Society (2001)

4. Urban Sprawl
Sprawl is dispersed, automobile-dependent development outside of compact urban and village centers along highways and in rural countryside.

5. Sprawl & Impervious Cover
Center for Watershed Protection 2003

6. Center for Watershed Protection (2003)
Flow as a ‘pollutant’
Higher highs/lower lows
Intensification/flashiness
Center for Watershed Protection (2003)

7. Runoff as a function of Imperviousness
Center for Watershed Protection (2003) after Schueler (1987)

8. Northern Virginia Streams
Percent watershed impervious cover
Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)
100 80 60 40 20
Fairfax County (2001) in CWP (2003)

9. Variation among subwatersheds
Total watershed impervious cover
Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)
Horner and May (1999) in CWP (2003)

10. Typical Pollutant Concentration Ranges
State of Maine (1995)

11. Are sediments the only concern?
Comparison to selected VT Water Quality Standards
No TSS causing impairment
0.010 – mg/L total phosphorus
2 and 5 mg/l nitrate for Class A and B waters
10 ug/L acute, 8 ug/L chronic*
23 ug/L acute, <1 ug/L chronic*
57 ug/L acute, 52 ug/L chronic*
<<1 mg/L as pesticides and PCB’s
No oil or grease causing impairment
18 E. coli cfu/100ml 3x in 30days (A1 and A2)
33 E. coli cfu/100ml once (A1 and A2)
77 E. coli cfu/100 ml (B)
at hardness of 50 mg/L
Be sure to point out that the panel on the left is for the raw stormwater, while the panel on the left is the condition of the diluted receiving water. Nevertheless, any stormwater contribution will affect (and can impair) the receiving water.
VT Stormwater Manual, Vol 2
VT Water Quality Standards

12. Impacts of Impervious Area
Center for Watershed Protection (2003) as noted.

13. Sprawl, impervious area, & impairment
Center for Watershed Protection 2003

14. Burton and Pitt (2002) Stormwater Effects Handbook
Impaired Rivers
Burton and Pitt (2002) Stormwater Effects Handbook

15. Burton and Pitt (2002) Stormwater Effects Handbook
Impaired Lakes
Burton and Pitt (2002) Stormwater Effects Handbook

16. Redesigning the American Neighborhood Developing an Ecological & Socioeconomic Framework for Effective Stormwater Management
Purpose: To develop tools that will allow stakeholders, regulators, and researchers to visualize alternative future environmental states that they imagine collectively and then to optimize the mix of interventions at various scales, that will best balance environmental and social, as well as economic, criteria.
Supported by US/EPA

17. Why focus on scale? Effectiveness: unknown Orientation: source control
Cost: uncertain – low?
Risk: unknown – medium/high
Effectiveness: uncertain
Orientation: local protection
Cost: known - medium
Risk: uncertain - medium
Effectiveness: known – depends
Orientation: downstream protection
Cost: known - high
Risk: known - low

18. Why focus on scale? Clearly, a mix of interventions is
desirable. But what mix?
For what purpose?
Located where?

19. Primary Goal
Quantify the balances among environmental, economic, and social costs and benefits for storm water management at whole-watershed, neighborhood, and individual house scales in a typical New England landscape and climate.

20. Key Objectives
Assessment: What are the opportunities for intervention?
Evaluation: What are the comparative cost/benefits of these interventions?
Participation: How can we better involve community stakeholders to devise successful solutions?
Implementation: Can we demonstrate the these approaches work?

21. Project Focus Area

22. Butler Farm Subdivision

23. Key Collaborations US-EPA/SNR-UVM (McIntosh, Bowden, Todd, Voinov)
Partnership with South Burlington (JB Hoover)
Collaboration with key consultants (PEC, J Nelson)
Advice from key stakeholders (Project Working Groups)
EPA Demonstration grant (JB Hoover)
NRCD implementation grant (A. Willard, B. Gabos)

24. Stormwater management matters

25. Fortuitous Timing Vermont ANR ‘Watershed Improvement Permits’
Vermont Water Resources Board ‘Investigative Docket’: What is the technical basis for stormwater management in Vermont?

26. Key Questions in the WRB Investigation
Is it feasible to use ‘source control’ as a primary option?
Can improvements be achieved in 5 years?
Can we separate and deal with natural vs man-made sources of pollutants?
Is a TMDL approach the best way to address clean up streams impaired by stormwater?
Are stormwater ‘offsets’ a reasonable approach to stormwater management?
Can we predict how ‘indicators’ of impairment will respond to stormwater treatment strategies?
What is the best way to evaluate progress toward desired goals?
What are the best ‘targets’ to judge when we have attained desirable goals?
If we can’t attain the standards we want, what should we do?

27. What can science do to help solve complex problems?
The “perspectives” of science: basic - applied
The “limits” of science: unpredictability - precaution
The “fallibility” of science: reductionist - wholistic
What are the indicators of good RS&T?

28. Opportunities
Vermont (and Potash Brook) have become ‘ground zero’ for stormwater issues regionally as well as nationally
Several partners have come together to form the RAN collaboration.
The RAN collaboration is in a position to contribute significantly to this debate.

29. Thank you!

30. National Event Mean Concentrations
Center for Watershed Protection (2003)

31. Impacts of Deposited Sediments
Center for Watershed Protection (2003)

32. Impacts of Suspended Sediments
Center for Watershed Protection (2003)

33. Potential pollutants other than sediments
A measure of variance in the data.
National EMC background
Burton and Pitt (2002) Stormwater Effects Handbook

34. University Mall

35. Williston Road/Burlington Airport

36. I-189/Shelburne Road

37. Some immediate responses to the October 2003 SNR Board Meeting
Seminar in Urban Watershed Management (Bowden)
Panel Discussion on Urban Sprawl (Bowden)
Seminar in Stormwater Modeling (Bowden)
Seminar in EcoVillage Design (Costanza et al.)
Ecological Design & Living Technologies (Todd)
Urban planning and policy development (Troy)
Ecological Economics (Erikson)