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REVERSE AUCTION RESULTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF DECENTRALIZED RETROFIT BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN A SMALL URBAN WATERSHED (CINCINNATI OH)
Citation:
SHUSTER, W. D., M. CLAGETT, M. A. MORRISON, A. ROY, J. TEMPLETON, AND H. W. THURSTON. REVERSE AUCTION RESULTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF DECENTRALIZED RETROFIT BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN A SMALL URBAN WATERSHED (CINCINNATI OH). Presented at American Water Resources Assocation (AWRA) 43rd Annual Water Resources Conference, Albuquerque, NM, November 12 - 15, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
to share information
Description:
Although urban stormwater is typically conveyed to centralized infrastructure, there is great potential for reducing stormwater runoff quantity through decentralization. In this case we hypothesize that smaller-scale retrofit best management practices (BMPs) such as rain gardens and rain barrels may impart a greater capacity for temporary detention and infiltration. For areas which are already developed, decentralization of stormwater management involves private property and possible liabilities, so that management techniques must be applied in a way that is both acceptable to landowners and effective in terms of accrued environmental benefits. The question of how to implement rain garden and rain barrel BMPs into private properties is addressed in a 1.8 km2 urban watershed near Cincinnati OH with a comprehensive monitoring program gathering watershed data before and after BMPs are installed. A reverse auction, where residents voluntarily bid on BMPs, was held in spring 2007. The bid is taken as the willingness-to-accept cost to EPA, and successful bids were selected on the basis of cost and potential environmental effectiveness; BMPs were then installed at no cost to the landowner and maintained for a period of three years. About 15% of the residents submitted bids for the BMPs, with slightly more bids for rain barrels than rain gardens. Approximately two-thirds of the bids were for zero dollars, indicating that a no-cost BMP provided sufficient enough incentive to encourage residents to participate in decentralization of municipal stormwater management. We report on watershed conditions, ranking of bids for cost and environmental effectiveness, and implementation issues, then discuss implications of these factors for the effectiveness of this approach to stormwater management at the watershed level.