News Archive
Portsmouth's State Street Receives Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award for 2010
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Portsmouth's State Street Project Receives ASCE NH Award – The transformation of Portsmouth's State Street has received recognition as the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award for 2010 by the New Hampshire Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The project was led by CMA Engineers of Portsmouth, NH, partnering with the UNHSC for the LID design. The State Street Redesign included a combined sewer separation, the use of a numerous tree filters, a large subsurface chamber system in series with an underground sand filter and other forms of advanced stormwater management.
Berry Brook Restoration Project-Urban Watershed Renewal
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Water quality and stream restoration improvements will be targeted in the Berry Brook Watershed from 2011-2013. Berry Brook, a tributary to the Cocheco River, is a 0.9 mile long stream in a 164 acre watershed in downtown Dover. The brook is impaired for aquatic habitat and primary contact recreation. Through a series of three grants and matching funding from the City of Dover, this project will implement some of the major recommendations from the 2008 Watershed Management Plan for Berry Brook.
Berry Brook Project Website Link
NH Stormwater Commission Report Summary
Saturday, May 14, 2011
This document summarizes the major points from the Stormwater Study Commission November 2010 Final Report. The New Hampshire legislature established the Stormwater Commission in 2008 to identify issues and find solutions to reduce impacts from stormwater runoff. This Summary Brief is a non-technical overview intended for the legislature and other public officials. The report includes 5 major recommendations for action.
Summary Overview
Stormwater is recognized as one of the leading causes of water pollution in the United States. In New Hampshire, stormwater contributes to over 80% of the surface water quality impairments according to water quality data compiled by NH DES. Impervious surfaces (e.g., roads, rooftops, parking lots, lawns in the shoreland zone) and other land use development cause most stormwater runoff. Moreover, increasing imperviousness from development contributes to increased frequency and magnitude of flooding. Recent flooding in NH, exacerbated by imperviousness, has resulted in a tragic loss of life and millions of dollars of damage to our road and highway systems, private residences, and business properties. New regulations and action is needed on a State level in preference to and advance of new Federal regulations
Seattle storm drains emptying into Puget Sound
Monday, April 18, 2011
Story Published: Jan 18, 2011 at 6:24 PM PDT By Denise Whitaker
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/114176134.html
KOMO NEWS, SEATTLE -- It's been a wet January in Seattle, with close to 4 inches of rain so far. After such heavy rain, there's a river that rages under Puget Sound, but it's not all water.
Local scuba diver Laura James took her camera down off Harbor Avenue SW to document the stunning stream of storm sediment now rushing into the Sound.
It looks like a thick black plume of muck.
"People don't even think about it," James said.
James says she takes the underwater video to make people aware of the ugliness below the beauty of Puget Sound. She finds cigarette butts, candy wrappers, chewing gum -- the garbage that people toss.
"It goes somewhere. And I like to show people where it goes," she said. "Right out here in Puget Sound."
And there is the toll from our daily lives: detergents, fertilizers, oil, brake dust -- even the rubber that wears off of our tires as we drive.
"Tire rubber? I mean where does that go?" she wondered. "We have to get our tires replaced pretty regularly; I mean where does that rubber go?"
When it rains, the water runs into storm drains and eventually flows out into our local waterways. As the water runs, it picks up all kinds of things in its path.
The city maintains storm water catch basins, designed to collect larger pollutants. But stuff still makes it into Puget Sound and area lakes.
James says she sees it all as she watches the flow and examines the debris field that settles onto the ocean floor.
Seattle Public Utilities Professional Engineer Andrew Lee says storm water pollution is a significant source of pollution for our waters.
He cites a 2009 report by the Department of Ecology showed storm water is the most significant pollutant of Puget Sound. And he says our recent snow storms made things worse.
"Obviously the Seattle Department of Transportation, putting salt, as well as sand on the roads to make sure that people could still drive on them -- some of that salt and sand material might have mixed with oils that are coming off of people's cars and then in the next rain event, that stuff flushes into the separated storm water system and when it comes out it looks like that black soot type of material," he said.
But more often, Lee says it's the things we do daily, from fertilizing our lawns and gardens to tossing trash, that leave the biggest mark on Puget Sound pollution.
And he says people are not supposed to wash their cars at home. You should use a self-service car wash instead, because they collect all of the detergent-filled water, so it does not go into storm drains.
"Every decision we make even if they're tiny decisions can affect what goes out there," Lee said. And it all effects what's living and should be thriving in Puget Sound.
WA Set to Ban Coal-Tar Sealcoat
Monday, March 28, 2011Washington State is poised to become the first state to ban coal-tar sealant used on pavements and parking lots.
A state measure—overwhelmingly approved last month by the House and now under consideration in the WA Senate—would ban the toxic asphalt sealant derived from coal tar, a waste product of steelmaking.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, more commonly known as PAHs, occur in oil, coal, and tar-based products, and are also produced as byproducts of fuel burning. The EPA considers these products to be carcinogenic and heavily regulate activities known to be sources of PAHs such as coking operations and coal gasification processes.
For decades, home and business owners have been seal coating their driveways and parking lots. Research conducted by the USGS, the UNHSC and others indicates that sealcoat activities, especially with coal tar based sealant products, may contribute significant amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons entering waterways from stormwater runoff.
New Winter Maintenance Specifications for Porous Pavements
Tuesday, February 01, 2011In February 2011, UNHSC published new winter maintenance specifications for porous pavements. You can download the document here »
NH Rain Garden Training 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010The Stormwater Center is one of the sponsors of the New Hampshire Rain Garden Training for Professional Landscapers, to be held October 25 & 26, 2010 at the Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth, NH. More information »
UNHSC on NHPTV's Planet Granite
Tuesday, January 05, 2010UNHSC partnerships highlighed on NHPTV's Planet Granite
Watch the full episode. See more NHPTV Specials.
First Porous Asphalt Road in NH
Tuesday, December 08, 2009A new active adult community in Pelham is home to the state’s first porous asphalt road, thanks to the efforts of the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center. More Information »
UNH Today, 12.08.09