User pay financing of stormwater management: A case-study in Ottawa-Carleton, Ontario

Stormwater management upgrade and maintenance costs in the province of Ontario are significant. As capital grant programs decline, municipalities are exploring alternative means for financing the abatement of stormwater quantity and quality problems. User pay financing represents one such option. The economic, institutional and legal issues related to implementing user pay financing of stormwater management in Ontario are addressed using the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton (RMOC) as a case-study. The paper reviews the experience with user pay stormwater management programs in Canada and the USA, and recent stormwater issues and financing needs in the RMOC. The presented spreadsheet rate model is based on stormwater quantity and quality considerations and best management practices (BMPs) for various land-use categories. The modelling results vary depending on the inclusion or exemption of certain land-use categories and whether BMPs are implemented. Preliminary results indicate the monthly stormwater user charges are comparable with those charged in USA programs. In Ontario, existing statutes provide the enabling legislation for stormwater user charges, and there are no legal or regulatory barriers to implementing them. However, program we start-up costs and public perception could be significant obstacles to instituting user charges.     

沸石-茭白复合床技术脱氮中试研究

通过模拟农村暴雨径流水质 ,开展了沸石 茭白复合床技术处理农村暴雨径流的中试研究 ,分析了在不同工况下床体中各态氮的变化规律 ,结果表明 ,该项技术应用于暴雨径流氮的控制是可行的。     

Curve Number Derivation for Watersheds Draining Two Headwater Streams in Lower Coastal Plain South Carolina,USA

The objective of this study was to assess curve number (CN) values derived for two forested headwater catchments in the Lower Coastal Plain (LCP) of South Carolina using a three‐year period of storm event rainfall and runoff data in comparison with results obtained from CN method calculations. Derived CNs from rainfall/runoff pairs ranged from 46 to 90 for the Upper Debidue Creek (UDC) watershed and from 42 to 89 for the Watershed 80 (WS80). However, runoff generation from storm events was strongly related to water table elevation, where seasonally variable evapotranspirative wet and dry moisture conditions persist. Seasonal water table fluctuation is independent of, but can be compounded by, wet conditions that occur as a result of prior storm events, further complicating flow prediction. Runoff predictions for LCP first‐order watersheds do not compare closely to measured flow under the average moisture condition normally associated with the CN method. In this study, however, results show improvement in flow predictions using CNs adjusted for antecedent runoff conditions and based on water table position. These results indicate that adaptations of CN model parameters are required for reliable flow predictions for these LCP catchments with shallow water tables. Low gradient topography and shallow water table characteristics of LCP watersheds allow for unique hydrologic conditions that must be assessed and managed differently than higher gradient watersheds.     

镇江城市径流颗粒粒径分布及其与污染物的关系

为了解城市中不同粒径颗粒物对于径流中污染物的影响,2006年3月在镇江城市不同功能区地表采集了沉积物样品和径流样品,分析了颗粒物的粒径分布和污染物浓度.结果表明,晴天条件下道路沉积物主要由粒径＜250μm的颗粒组成;降雨初期主要为＜5μm的颗粒物随径流迁移,随降雨历时的延长较大颗粒开始随径流迁移,降雨期间随地表径流迁移主要为小于150μm的颗粒物,特别是5～40μm粒径段的颗粒要特别予以关注;同时污染物浓度也由降雨初期的高浓度逐渐下降并趋于稳定.明确了径流中污染物的主要输出形态,并通过分析不同降雨历时污染物与固体悬浮物和颗粒粒径的相关性探明了径流污染物形态输出的原因,从而为城市非点源污染的管理以及控制方法的选择提供科学依据.     

镇江城市降雨径流营养盐污染特征研究

城市降雨径流污染是城市水体水质恶化的主要原因之一,为了分析降雨径流的污染特征,从2006-05开始,选择镇江具有代表性的土地使用功能对其降雨径流水质进行监测,分析了径流中固体悬浮物和营养盐的变化特征.结果表明,镇江不同功能区中5～40 μm粒径的固体悬浮物体积分数最大;商业区径流污染物浓度很高,其中SS浓度高达978 mg/L,是城市面源污染的主要来源;降雨初期的30 min径流污染物浓度很高,随降雨历时的延长污染物浓度逐渐下降并趋于稳定;溶解态氮、颗粒态磷和固体悬浮物是径流中污染物输出的主要形态;通过分析固体悬浮物与其他污染物的相关性,发现固体悬浮物是径流中营养盐吸附的载体,去除固体悬浮物是治理镇江降雨径流污染的有效途径.     

Water quality requirements for sustaining aquifer storage and recovery operations in a low permeability fractured rock aquifer

A changing climate and increasing urbanisation has driven interest in the use of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) schemes as an environmental management tool to supplement conventional water resources. This study focuses on ASR with stormwater in a low permeability fractured rock aquifer and the selection of water treatment methods to prevent well clogging. In this study two different injection and recovery phases were trialed. In the first phase ~1380 m(3) of potable water was injected and recovered over four cycles. In the second phase ~3300 m(3) of treated stormwater was injected and ~2410 m(3) were subsequently recovered over three cycles. Due to the success of the potable water injection cycles, its water quality was used to set pre-treatment targets for harvested urban stormwater of ≤ 0.6 NTU turbidity, ≤ 1.7 mg/L dissolved organic carbon and ≤ 0.2 mg/L biodegradable dissolved organic carbon. A range of potential ASR pre-treatment options were subsequently evaluated resulting in the adoption of an ultrafiltration/granular activated carbon system to remove suspended solids and nutrients which cause physical and biological clogging. ASR cycle testing with potable water and treated stormwater demonstrated that urban stormwater containing variable turbidity (mean 5.5 NTU) and organic carbon (mean 8.3 mg/L) concentrations before treatment could be injected into a low transmissivity fractured rock aquifer and recovered for irrigation supplies. A small decline in permeability of the formation in the vicinity of the injection well was apparent even with high quality water that met turbidity and DOC but could not consistently achieve the BDOC criteria.     

Effects of Climate and Land Cover on Hydrology in the Southeastern U.S.: Potential Impacts on Watershed Planning

The hydrologic response to statistically downscaled general circulation model simulations of daily surface climate and land cover through 2099 was assessed for the Apalachicola‐Chattahoochee‐Flint River Basin located in the southeastern United States. Projections of climate, urbanization, vegetation, and surface‐depression storage capacity were used as inputs to the Precipitation‐Runoff Modeling System to simulate projected impacts on hydrologic response. Surface runoff substantially increased when land cover change was applied. However, once the surface depression storage was added to mitigate the land cover change and increases of surface runoff (due to urbanization), the groundwater flow component then increased. For hydrologic studies that include projections of land cover change (urbanization in particular), any analysis of runoff beyond the change in total runoff should include effects of stormwater management practices as these features affect flow timing and magnitude and may be useful in mitigating land cover change impacts on streamflow. Potential changes in water availability and how biota may respond to changes in flow regime in response to climate and land cover change may prove challenging for managers attempting to balance the needs of future development and the environment. However, these models are still useful for assessing the relative impacts of climate and land cover change and for evaluating tradeoffs when managing to mitigate different stressors.     

Review of Urban Stormwater Quality Models: Deterministic,Stochastic, and Hybrid Approaches1

Abstract: The growing impact of urban stormwater on surface‐water quality has illuminated the need for more accurate modeling of stormwater pollution. Water quality based regulation and the movement towards integrated urban water management place a similar demand for improved stormwater quality model predictions. The physical, chemical, and biological processes that affect stormwater quality need to be better understood and simulated, while acknowledging the costs and benefits that such complex modeling entails. This paper reviews three approaches to stormwater quality modeling: deterministic, stochastic, and hybrid. Six deterministic, three stochastic, and three hybrid models are reviewed in detail. Hybrid approaches show strong potential for reducing stormwater quality model prediction error and uncertainty. Improved stormwater quality models will have wide ranging benefits for combined sewer overflow management, total maximum daily load development, best management practice design, land use change impact assessment, water quality trading, and integrated modeling.     

A SPATIAL LINEAR PROGRAM FOR OPTIMALLY SCHEDULING FOREST MANAGEMENT TO MEET STORMFLOW OBJECTWES1

ABSTRACT: A spatial linear program that strategically arranges and schedules forest treatments so as to meet peak stormflow objectives is formulated and demonstrated. The approach uses simulated spatial routing of stormflows nested as short‐term time schedules within longer‐term forest planning time periods. A simple case example is used to demonstrate the formulation and explore its spatial sensitivity.     

ACCURACY AND PRECISION OF NRCS MODELS FOR SMALL WATERSHEDS1

ABSTRACT: In the last 30 years, the National Resource Conservation Service's TR‐55 and TR‐20 models have seen a dramatic increase in use for stormwater management purposes. This paper reviews some of the data that were originally used to develop these models and tests how well the models estimate annual series peak runoff rates for the same watersheds using longer historical data record lengths. The paper also explores differences between TR‐55 and TR‐20 peak runoff rate estimates and time of concentration methods. It was found that of the 37 watersheds tested, 25 were either over‐ or under‐predicting the actual historical watershed runoff rates by more than 30 percent. The results of this study indicate that these NRCS models should not be used to model small wooded watersheds less than 20 acres. This would be especially true if the watershed consisted of an area without a clearly defined outlet channel. This study also supports the need for regulators to allow educated hydrologists to alter pre‐packaged model parameters or results more easily than is currently permitted.