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Summer 2005
PNWWATER 064
October 11th Satellite Conference:

Stormwater Management from a
Watershed Perspective

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Our fourth annual watershed theme-based satellite conference is scheduled for October 11, 2005 from 9:00 to 11:30 PDT.

Water quality monitoring in the Chagrin RiverThe audience at the 2004 Watershed Issues Satellite conference, Improving Community Involvement in Watershed Restoration, requested a workshop on Stormwater Management. Urbanizing areas and municipalities striving to comply with EPA national Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) are required to satisfy six minimum control measures. The 2005 Watershed Issues Satellite chronicles three communities successfully meeting these measures and involving their citizens in managing stormwater runoff, beginning at the house, roof, and driveway stage and reaching to city codes and regulations. Each community is distinctive in demographic, ecosystem, and region. However, within those differences, each brings a strategy to share as they meet the six minimum control measures and manage stormwater pollution.

 

Watauga River, photo courtesy of Watauga County Extension in North CarolinaWatauga County, North Carolina sits high in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the northwestern corner of the state. People flock to the refreshing streams and cool valleys to fly fish for native trout, hike pristine trails, and enjoy winter sports at a mile high resort. Many of these people return to build second or dream homes with long vistas amid trees. The disquieting side of this beauty is the chocolate colored streams stained by construction runoff and other land-use changes. The Watauga River Conservation Partners are working to restore stream banks ravaged by hurricane events and rapid development as well as make people aware that their actions have an impact on the beauty of the area. Natural wetlands, restored and planted the spring before the hurricanes, survived the torrents of water pouring down the mountain streambeds, helping to channel and filter the runoff. Banner Elk’s newly installed stormwater collection and purification system saved the city’s public green space from washing down river into Tennessee.

Washington State University logo University of Idaho logo Oregon State University logo University of Alaska Fairbanks logo Northwest Indian College logo Environmental Protection Agency logo USDA-NIFA logo

Pacific Northwest Regional Water
Quality Coordination Project
Partners

Land Grant Universities
Alaska
Cooperative Extension Service
Contact Fred Sorensen:
907-786-6311
http://www.uaf.edu/ces/water/
University Publications:
http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/ces/publications/

Idaho
University of Idaho
Cooperative Extension System
Contact Bob Mahler: 208-885-7025
http://www.uidaho.edu/wq/wqhome.html
University Publications:
http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/Catalog/catalog.html

Oregon
Oregon State University
Extension Service
Contact Mike Gamroth: 541-737-3316
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/
University Publications:
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/

Washington
Washington State University
WSU Extension
Contact Bob Simmons:
360-427-9670 ext. 690
http://wawater.wsu.edu/
University Publications:
http://pubs.wsu.edu/

Northwest Indian College
Contact Charlotte Clausing:
360-392-4319
cclausing@nwic.edu or
http://www.nwic.edu/

Water Resource Research Institutes
Water and Environmental Research
Center (Alaska)
http://www.uaf.edu/water/

Idaho Water Resources
Research Institute
http://www.boise.uidaho.edu/

Institute for Water and Watersheds
(Oregon)
http://water.oregonstate.edu/

State of Washington
Water Research Center
http://www.swwrc.wsu.edu/

Environmental Protection Agency
EPA, Region 10
The Pacific Northwest
http://www.epa.gov/r10earth/

Office of Research and Development,
Corvallis Laboratory
http://www.epa.gov/wed/

For more information contact
Jan Seago at 206-553-0038 or
seago.jan@epa.gov

The Chagrin River watershed east of Cleveland, Ohio flows through 35 villages and townships before entering Lake Erie. Experiencing land-use changes since the post-Revolutionary days when wetland filling, channelizing, and moving streams allowing for agriculture and city growth was a standard practice. Rehabilitation of streams and wetlands is returning these important natural filters to proper functioning condition. Reintroducing stream meanders and replacing vegetation are two strategies used to restore Chagrin River tributaries. Townships and villages, working with the Chagrin River Watershed Partners, have written zoning rules that require developers to adhere to codes that reserve green space and limit impervious surfaces in all new development.

Portland Bureau of Environmental Services sculpture In Portland, Oregon, the Bureau of Environmental Services encourages home and business owners to manage stormwater runoff on site rather than allowing it to enter the storm drains. The city has developed walking and biking tours highlighting management strategies that appear as architectural features but in reality are engineered collection systems that slow and filter pollution-laden stormwater. A Growth Management Area east of the city is poised to begin development. Code is in place requiring developers to adhere to Low Impact Development strategies such as installing grassy swales to collect and filter parking lot and road runoff and other Best Management Practices (BMPs) that have proven beneficial in other parts of the city.

You are invited to join the broadcast on October 11 from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM (PDT) and see the innovative and effective strategies these three areas have implemented and how citizens and local government work together to maintain water quality and comply with Environmental Protection Agency rulings. Call your local Extension office to reserve the satellite facilities and invite your neighbors to attend the workshop. The diversity of geographical and climates portrayed in the video offer a toolbox of BMPs to use in your gardens and city streets. Updated information on the broadcast and viewing sites is found at http://wawater.wsu.edu/ or by calling 509-574-1584.

National Water Quality Program Areas

The four land grant universities in the Pacific Northwest have aligned our water resource extension and research efforts with eight themes of the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

  1. Animal Waste Management
  2. Drinking Water and Human Health
  3. Environmental Restoration
  4. Nutrient and Pesticide Management
  5. Pollution Assessment and Prevention
  6. Watershed Management
  7. Water Conservation and Agricultural Water Management
  8. Water Policy and Economics
This material is based upon work supported by the
National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agriculture,
under Agreement No 2008-51130-4734.

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Download the informational PDF flyer here

A cooperative program consisting of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
and
the Land Grant Colleges and Universities.

- a Regionally-Based National Network -

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USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
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NIFA National Water Quality Program

This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2008-51130-04734.

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page last modified on August 27, 2006

NIFA PNW Regional Water Quality Program