Stormwater Reuse Study for Florida Department of Transportation (GAI, 2013)

This Stormwater Reuse Study includes:

  • An informative narrative of the how stormwater can be effectively reused.
  • The benefits of stormwater reuse to the FDOT and the End-User.
  • Coordination with the Water Management Districts and FDEP regarding environmental and permitting issues associated with the reuse of stormwater. Also included is a review of the possible grant funds that are available from various state agencies to support this creative Alternative Water Supply (AWS) initiative.
  • Potential stormwater reuse related challenges to overcome.
  • Identification of potential End-Users that may be motivated to buy or trade for the harvesting of stormwater runoff from the FDOT stormwater management facilities.
  • Data Analysis, evaluation and ranking of potential opportunities.

SJRWMD Permit Information Manual including ERP Applicant’s Handbook II – Stormwater Treatment Criteria in the SJRWMD

This manual is a compilation of information that will be useful to anyone interested in the St. Johns River Water Management District’s (SJRWMD) environmental resource permitting (ERP) program. It was developed as a result of the enactment of section 373.4131 of the Florida Statutes which directed the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the water management districts to adopt statewide ERP rules. In SJRWMD, the relevant rules are contained in chapters 62-330, 40C-1, 40C-4, 40C-8, 40C-41, and 40C-44, F.A.C., and for mitigation banks include chapter 62-342, F.A.C. In addition, applicants are required to demonstrate compliance with the provisions of SJRWMD’s Environmental Resource Permit Applicant’s Handbook, which has been incorporated by reference.

Click on the link below for the most up-to-date version of the rule from the SJRWMD web site:

SJRWMD Permit Information Manual

SWFWMD ERP Applicant’s Handbook II – Stormwater Treatment Criteria in the SWFWMD

Each Water Management District has adopted an ERP Applicant’s Handbook Volume II (“Volume II”) which contains the District-specific design and performance criteria for stormwater quantity, flood control, stormwater quality and any special basin criteria or other requirements that are applicable within the geographic area of the specific water management district. This Volume II (Design Requirements for Stormwater Treatment and Management Systems – Water Quality and Water Quantity) is intended for use only within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. (Includes Appendices A – F)

Click on the link below for the most up-to-date version of the rule from the SWFWMD web site:

SWFWMD ERP Applicant’s Handbook II

SFWMD ERP Applicant’s Handbook Volume II – Stormwater Treatment Criteria in the SFWMD

This Applicant’s Handbook Volume II accompanies Chapter 62-330, Fla. Admin. Code, and the Environmental Resource Permit Applicant’s Handbook Volume I (General and Environmental). Applicant’s Handbook Volume I is applicable to all environmental resource permit applications, and provides background information on the environmental resource permit (ERP) program.

This Volume is designed to be applicable only to those ERP applications that involve the design of a stormwater management system that requires a permit as provided in Chapter 62-330, F.A.C., or Section 403.814(12) F.S. This volume also contains South Florida Water Management District (District) specific appendices for regionally-specific criteria such as basin maps for cumulative impact assessments (see Applicant’s Handbook Volume I, Section 10.2.8), mitigation bank service area determination (refer to Chapter 62-342, F.A.C), and above ground impoundments.

Click on the link below for the most up-to-date version of the rule from the SFWMD web site:

SFWMD ERP Applicant’s Handbook II

Connecticut’s Nitrogen Credit Exchange – An Incentive-based Water Quality Trading Program

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CTDEP) has been actively involved in the operation of Connecticut’s Nitrogen Credit Exchange (NCE) since 2002. During the 2002-2009 period the total value of credits bought and sold was $45.9 million, representing 15.5 million nitrogen credits exchanged. It is one of the few expansive water quality credit trading programs successfully implemented in the United States. The program has provided an alternative compliance mechanism for publicly owned treatment works (POTW) to meet the nitrogen wasteload allocation (WLA) for the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) adopted for Long Island Sound. 

View the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection 2010 summary here: CT Water Quality Trading Summary 2010.pdf

DRAFT – DESIGN REQUIREMENTS FOR STORMWATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS IN FLORIDA (FDEP, 2010)

Florida has had post-development stormwater treatment requirements in place since the early 1980’s. During the development of those rules, the performance standard was set at 80% average annual load reduction of TSS, and, based of field data, best management practice design criteria were established that provide a rebuttable presumption of compliance that stormwater discharges met the requirements. Since that time, additional research (see Harper and Baker, 2007) has shown that standard BMPs do not reduce nutrients by 80% as presumed. This draft rule was prepared by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the five water management districts, with the assistance of an industry working group, to provide design criteria for meeting the 80% reduction target for nutrients. The standards include the application of BMP treatment trains and advanced treatment technologies. Click on the link below to download a full copy of the draft report.

FDEP-SW-Qualty-Applicant-handbook-design-requirements-Mar-2010-DRAFT.pdf

Urban Stormwater Management in the United States (NRC, 2008)

Stormwater runoff from the built environment remains one of the great challenges of modern water pollution control, as this source of contamination is a principal contributor to water quality impairment of waterbodies nationwide. In addition to entrainment of chemical and microbial contaminants as stormwater runs over roads, rooftops, and compacted land, stormwater discharge poses a physical hazard to aquatic habitats and stream function, owing to the increase in water velocity and volume that inevitably result on a watershed scale as many individually managed sources are combined. Given the shift of the world’s population to urban settings, and that this trend is expected to be accompanied by continued wholesale landscape alteration to accommodate population increases, the magnitude of the stormwater problem is only expected to grow. 

Evaluation of Current Stormwater Design Criteria within the State of Florida (Harper & Baker, 2007)

This report provides a discussion of work efforts performed by Environmental Research & Design, Inc. (ERD) for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) as part of Agreement SO108, titled “Evaluation of Current Stormwater Design Criteria within the State of Florida”. The primary objective of this project is to evaluate current stormwater design criteria within the State of Florida and determine if these criteria meet the treatment requirements specified in Chapter 62-40 FAC. If elements of existing stormwater design criteria fail to meet the requirements of Chapter 62-40 Florida Administrative Code.

Water Quality Credit Trading A Report to the Governor and Legislature December 2006

An excerpt from the report:

“The Florida Legislature, through the Watershed Restoration Act (Section 403.067, Florida Statutes), directed the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to provide a report with recommendations on water quality credit trading (referred to as “pollutant trading” in the law). The DEP consulted extensively with a Pollutant Trading Policy Advisory Committee (PTPAC) comprising expertise from regulated interests, environmental organizations, water management districts, and local governments. 

Water quality credit trading is a voluntary, market-based approach to promote protection and restoration of Florida’s rivers, lakes, streams and estuaries and would supplement and enhance the other voluntary, regulatory and financial assistance programs already in place. Trading is based on the fact that businesses and industries, wastewater treatment facilities, urban stormwater systems, and agricultural sites that discharge the same pollutants to a waterbody (basin, watershed or other defined area) may face substantially different costs to control those pollutants. Trading allows pollutant reduction activities to be environmentally valued in the form of “credits” that can then be traded on a local “market” to promote cost-effective water quality improvements. 

The full text of the report can be found here: Water Quality Credit Trading Final Report – December 2006.pdf