Product to Reduce Stormwater Runoff Pollution

I have prepared a short presentation on a product to improve water quality within the Stroubles Creek Watershed. Pollution caused by stormwater runoff is a major problem, and it enters Stroubles Creek easily through our storm drains. This product, the Ultra-Drain Guard Catch Basin, acts as a filter on storm drains to reduce the amount of contaminants entering our waterways through runoff. This product appears to be quite simple and economical in terms of water quality. I think this product could be quite helpful in the Blacksburg area, especially when trying to meet VA and EPA stormwater standards.

Wikipedia Page

I've been working on creating a wikipedia page for Stroubles Creek. It is still a work in progress, but I have finally published the article. I will work on adding more information in the next few weeks, but if anyone has additional information about Stroubles Creek, please feel free to contribute to the page.

The article can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroubles_Creek

Evaluating Natural Assets: Green Infrastructure

The past few weeks have been busy for me. On November 4, I went to Charlottesville for a Green Infrastructure Training Workshop sponsored by the Green Infrastructure Center, the VA Department of Forestry, and the University of Virginia. The title of the workshop was Evaluating and Conserving Natural Assets: planning for green infrastructure in the developing and urban landscapes.The workshop was very interesting.

EPA Stormwater Calculator

On October 23, I attended a free webinar hosted by the EPA on their National Stormwater Calculator (NSC). The NSC analyzes rainfall and runoff for individual sites anywhere in the US.  More information on the NSC can be found on the EPA's website here.

I have used other programs for calculating stormwater runoff, such as Win TR-55 and ArcGIS. This program by far is the simplest that I have used. It only works for individual sites, where as the others can be used for large areas, but the NSC is very user friendly. Most of the data is provided for you or collected from multple databases by the program, so the amount of work required by the user is very little. It's also very useful because you can compare techniques to reduce runoff. There are a variety of tools that can be considered for reducing the runoff at the site, such as rain gardens or pervious concrete, and the NSC will calculate what size you need it to be based on the site and the reduction in runoff.

Biophilic Cities Conference - New Ideas for Stroubles

On October 18, I had the opportunity to attend the first Biophilic Cities Conference, hosted by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The conference featured speakers from all over the world to speak about their cities, how they are biophilic, and any plans or management practices they have been using to maintain a biophilic environment.

For those of you that don't know, the term biophilia refers to "the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms. Innate means hereditary and hence part of ultimate human nature.” (Wilson, 1993, p.31). Biophilic cities are cities that incorporate an abundance of nature throughout their cities. They are concerned with protecting nature, restoring nature in an urban setting, and connecting humans with that nature. This typically involves biophilic designs, such as green infrastructure like rain gardens, green roofs, urban forestry, etc. It also involves community involvement and stewardship to maintain and increase the natural habitat within the city.

Invasive Species

I have prepared a short presentation on five common invasive species within the Stroubles Creek Watershed. Invasive species can be plants, animals, or microorganisms. The species I have listed are all plants and one insect. Invasive species vary by location, and they can also vary by how harmful they are to the ecosystem. They are often difficult to remove from the ecosystem. I have provided a few informative facts about each species, as well as some information on how to remove them.

TDML Plan

In 2006, the VT Biological Systems Engineering department, VA Water Resources Research Center, VA Department of Environmental Quality, and VA Department of Conservation and Recreation worked together to create a TDML Implementation Plan for the Upper Stroubles Creek Watershed. The upper portion of the Stroubles Creek watershed is mostly located in Blacksburg and on the VT campus, but some of it is outside of city limits in Montgomery County, as shown in the map below.

Taken from: http://www.tmdl.bse.vt.edu/outreach/C83/

TDMLs are total daily maximum loads of pollutants that a waterway can handle and still be healthy (aquatic life). These plans can be very dense and technical, but they are very useful when trying to reduce non-point source pollution to make an impaired stream healthier. The VA DEQ created a flier/fact sheet about Stroubles Creek and its TDML plan. It is very informative and to the point, so if you're not comfortable with the entire plan or you just want some basic information about the watershed and its plan, you should definitely check it out!  Stroubles Creek TDML Flier

At the bottom of the flier, there is a link to the entire TDML plan with contact information. However, that link is no longer active, so here is the link for the final implementation plan document if you'd like to read the specifics. Implementation Plan Link