Update on Stormwater Regulation - Madison County ….pptVIP

Update on Stormwater Regulation May 2011 1 Stormwater is a leading cause of water quality impairment and growing Urban stormwater is a leading source of impairment (2004 WQ Report): 22,559 miles of impaired rivers and streams 701,024 acres of impaired lakes 867 square miles of impaired estuaries Fast growing water quality concern 800,000 acres being developed every year, growing to ~2.1 million acres by 2039 Rate of development is 2x rate of pop. growth Development increases the amount of impervious cover in the landscape Currently 100 million acres developed; 25% is impervious Discharge from 1 acre of impervious cover is 16x the discharge from a 1 acre of undeveloped land Small increase in impervious cover leads to big impacts in receiving waters Watersheds with 1-2% of impervious land area = biological impacts to surface waters Watersheds with 5-15% of impervious land area = surface water declines rapidly to degraded levels, loss of function; Loss in base flow in streams and groundwater recharge 2 Stormwater pollutants: Cause beach closures and swimming illnesses through bacterial contamination Impact fisheries and shellfish harvesting through excess: Sedimentation (smothering fish eggs), Nutrients (reducing available dissolved oxygen) Metals (preventing a health risk to people who eat the fish) Temperature (temperature of stormwater runoff, affecting cold-water fish and other biota) Stormwater pollutants can also increase the costs of treating drinking water supplies Pollutants in Stormwater 3 Copyright 2001, Center for Watershed Protection Center for Watershed Protection Hydrologic Impacts Increased stormwater volume can cause flooding, scouring and sewer overflows. It could also reduce groundwater recharge causing stream baseflows to become extremely low. 4 Sources of Water Quality Impairment William Ruckelshaus, A New Shade of Green, The Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2010. Improving the Approach to Stormwater Management 6 Traditional approach