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Reverse auction results for implementation of decentralized retrofit best management practices in a small urban watershed (Cincinnati OH)Participatory storm water management and sustainability – what are the connections?
Citation:
SHUSTER, W. D., H. W. THURSTON, M. CLAGETT, M. A. MORRISON, AND A. ROY. Reverse auction results for implementation of decentralized retrofit best management practices in a small urban watershed (Cincinnati OH)Participatory storm water management and sustainability – what are the connections? Presented at Annual Scientific Symposium of the Ohio River Basin Consortium for Research and Education (ORBCRE), Oxford, OH, October 25 - 26, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public
Description:
Urban stormwater is typically conveyed to centralized infrastructure, and 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. A reverse auction, where residents voluntarily bid on BMPs, was held in spring 2007 to facilitate the implementation of rain garden and rain barrel BMPs into private properties (ca. 350 parcels) in a 1.8 km2 urban watershed near Cincinnati OH. The effectiveness of this approach in terms of improving environmental quality is addressed with a comprehensive monitoring program gathering watershed data before and after the installation of BMPs. The auction 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 will be maintained for a period of three years. About 25% of the residents submitted bids for the BMPs, with slightly more bids for rain barrels than rain gardens. Approximately 66% 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.
