Almost Done with the Stormwater Manual

The Minnesota Stormwater Manual is nearly finished. I've been working for some time on revisions to Version 2; which we're calling 2.0. Like Web 2.0. Only the changes won't be that dramatic. Stay posted.

White Bear Lake Stormwater Meeting

Last night, a couple dozen citizens of the City of White Bear Lake came to City Hall to discuss their city's plan for stormwater management. The meeting was a joint meeting of the MPCA and the City of White Bear Lake -- the meeting was requested by citizens during the official public notice period during the city's Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System General Permit application process.

I was personally surprised to see so many White Bear Lake citizens show up for a discussion about stormwater on this particularly cold December night. But it was an important meeting, because citizens were able to discuss technical stormwater matters with the city's engineering staff.

This special-request public information meeting about Stormwater Pollution Preventiuon Plans (SWPPPs) was the first of its kind in this MS4 permit cycle, but others are expected.

This was my first off-site public meeting since I started at the agency and I was heartened to see people who had far more than a cursory understanding of stormwater management. This may change the way I approach public outreach.

Stormwater Steering Committee Gearing Up

It's my impression that the Minnesota Stormwater Steering Committee is gearing up for some exciting progress: Workgroups are being formed and workplans are being finalized. A new employee at the PCA is now dedicated to working on the long-overdue stormwater industrial permit (in the absence of EPA direction) ... and the Steering Committee has a workgroup dedicated to helping PCA staff write that permit. Oh, and the Pollution Prevention unit at the PCA now has a complimentary workgroup (the Low-Impact Design workgroup) on the Steering Committee.

A Web-based forum will soon give SSC workgroups the ability to communicate effectively between meetings.

Bad Raindrop

A still image from the 1948 Forest Service cartoon-movie "The Adventures of Jr. Raindrop." Watch the video

Will climate change change stormwater?

At the water issues meeting on April 27, MPCA Peter Ciborowski (Air Assessment & Environmental Data Management--and resident expert on climate change) provided a thorough and engaging presentation to a packed audience on potential impacts of climate change on water resources. As a follow-up, the Water People will hold a meeting on May 11 (internal) to discuss it:

How does climate change affect some of the not-so-obvious programs, such as decisions made at remediation sites or sizing decisions for stormwater?

By the way, the new stormwater manual, put out by the Stormwater Steering Committee, has a chapter (PDF) on unified stormwater sizing criteria.

Unrelated story

Last night I was in a serious car accident, but no one was hurt seriously. In fact, all four carpool passengers are back at work in St. Paul this morning. I'm a little sore.

It was raining hard and we were headed north on 35W in the right lane, when a 1989 Cadillac dropped its left tires onto the softened shoulder, lost control, then careened into the side of our 2003 Buick LeSabre. Our car was turned to the left and we shot across the left lane, down into the grassy median--sideways--then north onto the southbound passing lane. Our driver, my mother-in-law, was able to steer the car back into the median before we were met by any traffic.

No one was seriously hurt--apparently the drivers of the Cadillac are OK, too. The drivers' side, side-airbag probably saved our driver's shoulder, but the woman on the left in the back seat was taken for X-rays as a precaution. Only one window shattered, but there was glass and mud everywhere inside. Both passengers in the back seats found glass later in their hair and clothing--even in their nose and ears.

We're thankful to be alive and I thank God for saving us. He's faithful.

'What does this have to do with stormwater?' you're asking yourself, right? None, really, except that rain contributed to the accident and a stormwater blogger has only a crick in his neck after what could have been a major disaster.
-Dan

Hard soil

It rained all weekend, but we still managed to get some trees and plants in the ground. We ordered trees through the local conservation district--they were delivered this weekend so there wasn't any choice. Meanwhile, I was dead-set on getting gutters and a rain barrel set up, but it didn't work out. I had planned to get up on a ladder even if it was raining. (Watching the water drip away was disappointing.) But the lawn was thirsty and I think it should go green as soon as the sun comes back.

One thing though ... while digging holes for new trees, we found gravel-ly dirt right under the grass. Aha! that's what I thought: They rolled out the sod on top of unprepared soil.

I've learned that while it is beneficial to a city's storm sewer system to have gutters drain onto lawns instead of going directly to the street ... soil under lawns in new developments is too compact to receive much water. Construction equipment used to build the house compact it down hard.
-Dan