Citation:

MORRISON, M. A., W. D. SHUSTER, AND R. Webb. A Streamlined Monitoring Framework for Low Impact Development Stormwater Management Practices - Cleveland. Presented at Ecological Landscaping Conference, Cleveland, OH, October 28 - 31, 2007.

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Presentation/Abstract

Description:

Suburban development surrounding extant urban cores provides watershed managers with two distinct scenarios. The first is abandonment of urban residential zones and problems associated with revitalization in areas where aquatic resources are in poor condition. The second is new development where the condition of aquatic resources ranges from good to rapidly degrading. Structural best management practices and existing infrastructure are currently being supplemented with green infrastructure alternatives. The concern is that new management projects are implemented on an opportunistic basis that does not account for existing practices and watershed structure and function. The objective of our research is to develop a streamlined monitoring framework that aids in the selection of monitoring strategies to assess the performance and effectiveness of sustainable and low-impact development (LID) stormwater management projects. The framework will address both site-specific and watershed scales, and is designed to help focus the efforts of watershed managers on the end goal of improving in-stream water quality. The monitoring framework will be introduced via a discussion of the Shepherd Creek Watershed project in Southwestern Ohio. The Shepherd Creek project provides economic incentives to urban residential landowners to adopt LID approaches - rain barrels and rain. gardens - at the parcel level. Four project sites were recently funded through the Chagrin River Watershed Partners by a U.S. EPA National Community Decentralized Demonstration Project grant. The four projects are distributed throughout the Chagrin River Watershed in Northeast Ohio and consist of rain gardens, roadside bioswales, porous pavers and a combination treatment train approach at one of the four locations. Because of the limited scope and spatial scale of these demonstration projects, monitoring will mostly involve on-site stormwater collection designed to provide proof-of-concept water quantity and quality data (i.e., performance). We will discuss the genesis of the monitoring framework, how it was informed by the watershed-scale research in the Shepherd Creek project, and then walk through site-specific examples for the Chagrin River Watershed demonstration project.

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