Assessment and Maintenance of Stormwater Best Management Practices

Principal Investigator(s):

John Gulliver, Professor Emeritus, Civil, Environmental and Geo-Engineering

Co-Investigators:

Project summary:

The League of Minnesota Cities partnered with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to answer a number of questions regarding Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs). This project demonstrated the development of Total Daily Maximum Load (TDML) analyses on three watersheds with the inclusion of stormwater BMPs for water temperature on trout streams. It also demonstrated how to determine particle size distribution in stormwater, and did so for a number of watersheds in Minnesota. It also determined what pollution can be expected from the infiltration of stormwater through the various soils in Minnesota, and determined the overall groundwater pollution from several stormwater infiltration practices. The project also determined that if assessment found that a stormwater BMP was not achieving the desired result, maintenance/renovation should be present, and the appropriate maintenance procedures incorporated into the online document, "Assessment of Stormwater Best Management Practices." The document is a one-stop location for the assessment, maintenance and renovation of stormwater BMPs. In addition, the project continues an intensive outreach effort, providing workshops on visual inspection procedures, educating undergraduate and graduate students, and informing the local and national professional community of the State of Minnesota's efforts in stormwater BMP assessment.

Project details:

  • Project number: 2008086
  • Start date: 08/2007
  • Project status: Completed
  • Research area: Environment and Energy