Knowledge basesession1 a_welker

A multi-level approach to monitoring stormwater control measures (SCMs)

Andrea L. Welker, PhD, PEProfessor

Chocolate in the peanut butter

Education/outreach in the monitoring

Monitoring in the education/outreach

Peanut butter in the chocolate

• Very low• Low• Medium• High

Levels

• Hydrological• Water quality• EcologicalTypes

MONITORING METHODS AND EQUIPMENT

Some examples of hydrological equipment

Precipitation Standard, tipping bucket rain gauge

Infiltration rates Staff gauges, ultrasonic level detectors, bubblers, pressure transducers

Runoff inflow and outflow Visual, pressure transducer in conjunction with a weir

Volumetric water content Moisture meters or reflectometers

Some examples of how to get water quality samples

Runoff First flush samplers, autosamplers, and grab samples

Subsurface Lysimeters

Some examples of ecological methods

Plant diversity and coverage

Inspection

Nutrient uptake Analysis of plantsInsect and animal utilization

Biological assessment

Frequency of inspection/monitoringInter-mittent

Monitoring is performed on an ad-hoc basis by citizens

Yearly Monitoring is performed yearly, ideally at the same time each year. This is applicable to ecological monitoring.

Seasonal Monitoring is performed in response to rain events four times a year, once in each season. The rain event should produce at least 0.6 cm of rain in an eight hour period to provide measurable quantities. This is applicable to runoff inflow and outflow and infiltration monitoring at infiltration and bioinfiltration SCMs and precipitation monitoring at infiltration, bioinfiltration, and evaporation SCMs.

Event Monitoring is performed in response to as many rain events as practical, but at least 8 per year. This is applicable to water quality monitoring at all four types of SCMs. The rain event should produce at least 0.6 cm of rain in an eight hour period to provide measurable quantities.

Contin-uous

Monitoring is performed continuously for all rain events that produce at least 0.6 cm of rain in an eight hour period. This is applicable to hydrologic and water quality instrumentation that is self data-logging. The data can then be downloaded and evaluated after the rain event is completed.

www.villanova.edu/vusp 9

Infiltration BMPsVery low Low Medium High

HydrologicPrecipitation Seasonal – standard

rain gauge Continuous

Infiltration rate Seasonal – staff gauge, infiltration rate of

pavements (ASTM 1701)

Continuous, Seasonal -

infiltration rate of pavements (ASTM

1701)Inflow and outflow Intermittent

– visual inspection

Seasonal – visual

inspection

Seasonal – visual inspection

Continuous

Volumetric water content

Continuous (optional)

Water QualitySurface water samples Event or Continuous

Subsurface water samples

Event

Ecological: not applicable

Visual inspection checklist for infiltration SCMs

Infiltration rate

Ponded water present for more than 48 hours after rainfall event

Inflow and outflow

Sediment accumulation in basin area

Clogged inlet structures

Clogged outlet structures


Bio-infiltration BMPsVery low Low Medium High



Infiltration rate Intermittent – visual inspection


Seasonal – staff gauge

Continuous

Inflow and outflow Intermittent – visual inspection



Continuous

Volumetric water content Continuous (optional)


Subsurface water samples Event

EcologicalPlant diversity and coverage


Yearly – plant inventory




Nutrient uptake Yearly – plant samples

Visual inspection checklist for bioinfiltration and naturalized SCMs

Infiltration ratePonded water present for more than 48 hours after rainfall event

Inflow and outflowSediment accumulation in basin area Clogged inlet structuresClogged outlet structuresExcessive erosion

Plant diversity and coveragePresence of invasivesPercent vegetative coverPresence of wetland plants Cattails Arrowheads Marsh smartweedsColor, quality, and size of leaves, stems, and flowers


Evapotranspiration BMPsLow Medium High



Outflow Seasonal – visual inspection


Continuous

Volumetric water content Continuous (optional)








Visual inspection checklist for evapotranspiration SCMs

Inflow and outflowClogged outlet structure

Plant diversity and coveragePresence of invasivesPercent vegetative coverColor, quality, and size of leaves, stems, and flowers


Ponds and Wetlands (Naturalized SCMs)Low Medium High



Inflow and outflow Seasonal – visual inspection


Continuous






Seasonal – visual inspectionYearly – plant inventory


Insect and animal utilization

Yearly – inspection

Soil conditions Yearly – soil samples

Visual inspection checklist for bioinfiltration and naturalized SCMs

Infiltration ratePonded water present for more than 48 hours after rainfall event

Inflow and outflowSediment accumulation in basin area Clogged inlet structuresClogged outlet structuresExcessive erosion

Plant diversity and coveragePresence of invasivesPercent vegetative coverPresence of wetland plants Cattails Arrowheads Marsh smartweedsColor, quality, and size of leaves, stems, and flowers

QR codes on signage

Citizens can add locations

Compatibility with existing

apps

Combine data for all

levels

Comparisons to higher

levels

Water reporterCreekwatchEPAUSGS

Education – place in watershedChecklists

Reliability? Mapping

Conclusions

• Need to start small, but the sky is the limit• Maybe able to better link individual SCMs with

watershed improvements• This work was supported by the William Penn

Foundation and the TVSSI is grateful for their support

Knowledge basesession1 a_welker

Education

visual inspection checklist

water quality monitoring

infiltration monitoring

water quality instrumentation

rain events

bioinfiltration bmps

bioinfiltration scms

evapotranspiration scms