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FRAMEWORK FOR PLACEMENT OF BMP/LID IN URBAN WATERSHED
Citation:
Lai*, D. FRAMEWORK FOR PLACEMENT OF BMP/LID IN URBAN WATERSHED. Presented at LID Conference: Putting the LID on Stormwater Management, College Park, MD, September 21 - 23, 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
A number of stormwater control strategies, commonly known as best management practices (BMPs), are used to mitigate runoff volumes and associated nonpoint source pollution due to wet-weather flows (WWFs). BMP types include ponds, bioretention facilities, infiltration trenches, grass swales, filter strips, dry wells, and cisterns. Another control option is "low impact development" (LID) or hydrologic source control which strives to retain a site's pre-development hydrologic regime, reducing WWF and the associated nonpoint source pollution and treatment needs.
To assist stormwater management professionals in planning for BMP/LID implementation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has funded the development of a decision support system for selection and placement of BMP/LID at strategic locations in urban watersheds. The BMP/LID assessment tool, based on sound science and engineering, will help develop, evaluate, select, and place BMP/LID options based on cost and effectiveness. The system is called the Integrated Stormwater Management Decision Support Framework (ISMDSF) and is being developed through a systematic review of modeling needs, technical requirements, current and emerging data management technology, and available watershed and BMP/LID models. The ISMDSF will provide a means for objective analysis of management alternatives among multiple interacting and competing factors. The desired outcome from system application is a thorough, practical, and informative assessment considering the significant factors in urban watersheds. The ISMDSF will be applied to a real urban watershed to evaluate its ability.
The initial phase of this research is expected to be completed in 2005 to include a comprehensive design with all pieces in place but not all functionalities. The subsequent phase will include an enhanced GIS capability for visualization of placement options, more powerful post-processors, expanded cost estimating functions, improved BMP simulation processes, and more importantly, a cost-optimization component. While the initial phase work will still be ongoing at the time of this conference, the presentation will include project background, rationale, approach, review findings of watershed and BMP/LID models, and the near final design of the framework.
The presentation will also include BMP/LID modeling concepts and process formulations that can be potentially incorporated into the stand-alone BMP/LID simulation module in the ISMDSF. There is currently a confusing array of options for analyzing hydrologic regimes and planning for BMP/LID. Integrating available BMP and LID processes into one model is highly desirable.