Ecological Management Action Plans
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EM-12 Storm Water Management
EVALUATION METHODS
Components of Plan
The plan promotes the use of alternative methodologies for disposal
of storm waters. BTMC will encourage, facilitate, and coordinate such
efforts in BTES, and support studies that will increase the knowledge
base of various aspects of alternative storm water disposal. Usefulness
of the various programs are anticipated in 1) reduced loadings of nutrients,
fecal coliform bacteria, and pollutants to BTES water bodies, 2) improved
water quality in BTES in support of enhanced natural resources, and
3) enhanced wetland vegetation.
Interrelationships Among Components
A database compiled by CLIWS identifies 556 storm water pumps in
Barataria and Terrebonne basins. Various components of a database
that will support location of projects for alternative management
of storm water disposal are yet to be completed. A proposal by the
Lafourche Coastal Advisory board for a storm water treatment/wetland
enhancement project is pending for funding under CWPPRA. Other demonstration
projects are feasible with assistance from local government, state
(LDEQ, LDNR) and federal (EPA, NRCS, USACOE) agencies, and CWPPRA.
Monitoring of the results of the demonstration and/or actual projects
will be conducted by the implementor(s). BTMC would serve as a coordinator
of knowledge gained from project results, a translator and disseminator
of the knowledge through public education programs, and a facilitator
for additional projects.
•. The lead implementor is BTMC and LDEQ [seems that there
should be a single lead with collaborators, or a work group of agencies].
Collaborating organizations are LDNR, local government, drainage
districts, LDHH, LCES, EPA, NRCS, USACOE.
•. Costs for the initial project will be borne by the sponsoring
parties and CWPPRA. Other demonstration projects will be cost shared
by the relevant cooperating agencies. Costs of developing an appropriate
database, coordinating results from projects, developing and disseminating
education programs, and in coordinating efforts will be shared by
BTMC, LDEQ, and collaborating agencies.
Documentation of Plan Implementation and Success
Monitoring for this Action Plan includes assessing the timely implementation
of the components of the Action Plan, and the eventual success of
implementation (i.e., improved water quality and enhanced wetland
vegetation). The first component is not conducive to monitoring
in the traditional sense of data collection and analysis (e.g.,
water quality monitoring), but rather a tracking. The monitoring
of implementation is designed to determine whether BTMC facilitated
the initiation of alternative storm water discharge management methods
and whether a better informed public resulted. Monitoring the actual
results of the storm water management projects will be conducted
by the implementor(s). The focus of the Action Plan should be on
monitoring of the individual projects by the implementors and forwarding
of that information to BTMC for their incorporation into educational
programs, re-examination of issues, re-formulating plans for further
projects.
•. Eventual success of the Action Plan may not be identifiable
in a basin-wide (or subsegment) analysis of water quality or ecological
indicators, because the projects are isolated and may be limited
in number, thus reducing an overall, identifiable effect . The success
of Action Plans that target reduced sewage pollution, reduced agricultural
pollution, and storm water management may all be manifested in similar
improvements in water quality and indicators of ecosystem health.
If all Action Plans are working in parallel and water quality improves,
it will be difficult to determine the cause and effect. Since the
scale of implementation will vary among Action Plans, the level
of success in improved water quality will also vary. The probability
is high that implementation of any single management scenario may
have varying effects in different environments. It is also possible
that no single indicator may indicate program success, but rather
success will be seen in a combination of indicators. The end result
of multiple actions to improve water quality, however, will be noticeable
in indicators of basinwide ecosystem-level health (see CCMP-Part
4, "Monitoring Plan for Ecological Indicators").
•. Specific steps in the Action Plan that can be tracked and/or
indicators of success that can be analyzed for change are proposed
below. They can be expanded or modified, should be reviewed periodically,
and should be amended as appropriate.
Plan implementation
•. Establish lead and collaborating implementors, secure sources
of funding, identify a project work group and respective responsibilities,
and develop a detailed time line (months 0-4).
•. Encourage the acceptance of demonstration storm water project
by CWPPRA (months 0-12).
•. Identify information needs, formulate studies, secure funding,
implement data collection and research projects (months 6-12).
•. Begin development of public education programs (months 6-12).
•. Support studies of:
¨ . storm water discharge constituents,
¨ . characterization of receiving
water bodies,
¨ . attributes of wetland areas
that are conducive to retention and treatment of pollutant loads
without detriment to the wetlands,
¨ . identification of suitable wetland
receiving areas, and
¨ . identification of suitable demonstration
project sites.
•. Emphasize treatment areas that are known to assimilate dissolved
nutrients, e.g., freshwater swamps.
•. Support projects that are designed so as not to lose any
more naturally functioning wetland areas.
•. Encourage monitoring for indicators that wetland vegetation
and natural processes are not impaired as a result of the project.
Any negative effects should also be incorporated into the BTMC educational
programs and re-assessment of direction of the Action Plan.
•. Dissemination of educational programs (years 2-10).
•. Coordinate information obtained from various projects (monitoring
of success by various implementors) and incorporate into educational
programs (years 2-10).
•. Coordinate information obtained from various projects (monitoring
of success by various implementors) and incorporate into improved
management technologies (years 2-10).
•. Encourage other governmental bodies to develop alternative
storm water management practices and projects (years 2-10).
•. Continue encouragement of other demonstration projects (years
2-10).
Project success
•. Individual storm water management projects will be monitored
by the implementor(s).
•. Establishment of sample design for specific targeted study
areas.
•. Establishment of baseline data for specific targeted study
areas.
•. Monitor appropriate parameters that indicate the amount
of pollution from storm water discharge that affects the system
is reduced.
•. Water in relevant BTES subsegments meets all state/federal
guidelines; no impairments due to storm water discharges.
•. Data analysis to determine success of the various projects.
Effects are anticipated in
¨ . reduced loadings of nutrients,
fecal coliform bacteria, and pollutants to BTES water bodies,
¨ . improved water quality in relevant
BTES watersheds or subsegments in support of enhanced natural
resources,
¨ . enhanced wetland vegetation,
and
¨ . improvement in ecological indicators.
Methods
Measurable parameters
Plan Implementation - The activities of various agencies outlined
above in implementing the plan will be monitored for indicators such
as:
•. Lafourche storm water disposal/wetland enhancement project
is implemented under CWPPRA.
•. Plan for tracking progress of Lafourche project is developed
and implemented.
•. Plan for educational programs and their dissemination is
established.
•. Plan for encouraging other storm water management projects
is developed.
•. List of data needs and types of studies identified, outlined,
and funding secured.
•. Enumeration and description of studies initiated, tracked,
and completed.
•. Incorporation of knowledge from completed studies in expanded
educational programs and improved management technologies.
•. Increased public education programs concerning storm water
discharge pollution problems and alternative management strategies.
•. Increased number of alternative storm water management projects.
Project Success
•. Decreased evidence of storm water pollutants in specific
targeted study areas.
•. Decreased evidence of storm water pollutants as cause of
impairment of water bodies in specific targeted study areas.
•. Increased evidence of wetland vegetation enhancement at alternative
storm water management sites.
•. Improvement in ecological indicators that would indicate
a reduction in storm water pollution.
Data collection methods
Plan Implementation - The monitor will contact the various
agencies involved in the implementation to gather data (examples below)
that will be incorporated into a monitoring report:
•. Check-off system according to time line of project as landmark
dates are encountered and project objectives are met.
•. Person-months of involvement of various agency personnel
are documented by the implementor and collaborating agencies.
•. Tracking of time line, implementation, monitoring results
of various storm water projects.
•. List and descriptions of educational programs developed.
•. List of recipients of educational programs, including dates,
types of programs, and comments made by recipients of educational
programs as to usefulness of the program.
•. Lists, descriptions, and results of alternative storm water
management projects are maintained for review by cooperating agencies
and BTMC.
Project Success
•. Reports of results of alternative storm water management
on water quality of adjacent receiving water body. Provided by implementor(s)
of project. Summarized by monitor for incorporation in reports.
•. Reports of results of alterations of wetland habitat at
receiving end of altered storm water discharge systems. Provided
by implementor(s) of project. Summarized by monitor for incorporation
in reports.
•. Monitoring of individual projects incorporates
¨ . establishment of baseline data,
¨ . routine water quality monitoring
and agricultural pollutant monitoring as established in state
and federal agencies,
¨ . designations of degraded water
quality (i.e., not meeting or partially meeting designated use
due to storm water pollutant sources),
¨ . parameters for assessment of
storm water pollution effects,
¨ . indicators of wetland condition,
wetland vegetation enhancement, and
¨ . ecological indicators such as
chlorophyll biomass, phytoplankton composition, noxious algal
blooms, nutrient levels, BOD, fish kills due to pesticide runoff,
fish kills due to herbicide applications, water clarity.
Much routine baseline information exists, e.g., LDEQ Water Quality
Inventory, various data sets analyzed for "Status and Trends of
Eutrophication, Pathogen Contamination, and Toxic Substances in the
Barataria-Terrebonne Estuarine System" (Rabalais et al. 1995),
"Status and Trends of Hydrologic Modification, Sediment Availability
and Habitat Loss/Modification in the Barataria-Terrebonne Estuarine
System" (Reed, ed., 1995) and types of data in the EPA EMAP database,
EMAP Wetlands database. Routine monitoring that might indicate the amount
of storm water pollution affecting the system includes nutrients, pesticides
in water, sediment loads, salts, fecal coliform levels, BOD, dissolved
oxygen, insecticide- or herbicide-related fish kills. Other baseline
information is missing, e.g., system-wide analysis of DO, nutrients,
phytoplankton composition and biomass, benthic indicators, storm water
discharge-source pollutants in water, sediment and biota, indicators
of biotic integrity and ecosystem-level health.
Sample design and statistical methods
Plan Implementation - There are no relevant sample designs
or statistical analyses for the evaluation of plan implementation.
Project Success - Long-term data sets of routine water quality
monitoring data that might indicate a change in water quality over time
are applicable to nonparametric trend analysis techniques (e.g., modified
Mann-Kendall tau tests and seasonal Kendall slope estimator tests; see
Hirsch et al. 1982). Tests similar to those used in "Status and
Trends of Eutrophication, Pathogen Contamination, and Toxic Substances
in the Barataria-Terrebonne Estuarine System" (Rabalais et al.
1995) would be appropriate for the routinely collected water quality
monitoring data. Within any single storm water management project, appropriate
statistical techniques can be applied to test for differences in receiving
water, wetland vegetation, etc. as a result of implementation of the
project. Initiation, completion, and subsequent altered storm water
disposal techniques will be implemented on a varying time schedule and
not distributed uniformly throughout BTES. A system-wide analysis of
effects is not appropriate.
Cost estimates
Estimate one-half person-month per year for monitoring all the aspects
of Action Plan implementation and the cooperative efforts of each agency.
Including salary, fringe, incidental costs, and indirect costs = $4,000
for each year (no inflation). Modifications in monitoring plan (see
below) should result in modifications of cost. Additional costs of monitoring
storm water discharge studies will be borne by implementor and collaborating
agencies.
Implementation of Monitoring
Monitor
Since BTMC is the proposed implementor for this Action Plan, an outside
monitor not selected directly by BTMC is desirable. The combined work
group of representatives of the cooperating agencies should agree to
an outside monitor who will then be contracted by BTNEP. A monitor will
prepare reports to be submitted to BTMC. Although individuals involved
in the implementation of the Action Plan may prefer a team member to
monitor the project, usually a Third Party offers the best option as
the responsible individual for the monitoring. Independent reviewers
should be free of vested interests, historic commitments, unrestrained
by mission statements, and free from personnel or budgetary actions.
The implementor and cooperating agencies will provide the project monitor
with data products listed above for subsequent assessment of accuracy
and incorporation into reports. The monitor should interact directly
with each cooperating agency to determine their level of commitment
and activities for the various reports. Success of the monitoring strategy
depends on the commitment of participating agencies and individuals
to make monitoring an integral part of the CCMP and to provide the Action
Plan monitor with the data required to develop reports to BTMC.
Reporting schedule
The monitor will prepare quarterly reports. Reports will be submitted
not less than 15 days prior to a regularly scheduled meeting of the
BTMC. The party responsible for the monitoring should be available to
discuss the report at the meeting if requested to do so by the BTMC.
Monitoring reports will also be provided to the agencies or institutions
participating in implementation. Interim reports can be prepared by
the monitor at any time to draw BTMC attention to significant problems,
delays, etc.
Guidance for monitoring reports
•. Quarterly reports to BTMC shall provide suitable components,
such as:
¨ . Check-off of project landmarks
according to the project time line.
¨ . Assessment of cooperating agency
contributions.
¨ . Description of educational programs.
¨ . Compilation of recipients of
educational programs and their comments.
¨ . Compilation of storm water management
projects initiated, completed, and in progress.
¨ . Compilation of results from
storm water management projects.
•. Technical details may be included in the report, in a presentation
suitable for the Scientific Technical Committee and/or BTMC. A summary
of the report shall be less than one page and be suitable for presentation
to and understanding by the general public.
•. In addition to the evaluation of the technical accomplishments
of the project, the monitor shall
¨ . identify problems observed during
the reporting period and their potential causes;
¨ . predict the short- and long-term
consequences of the problems;
¨ . recommend actions to address
the problems, as well as a potential implementor(s);
¨ . identify a time frame for accomplishment
of the recommendations.
Review of monitoring reports
The BTMC shall receive the quarterly reports. The BTMC shall discuss
the monitoring document and take actions it feels appropriate with regard
to the implementation of the Action Plan.
Modification of monitoring plan
BTMC may at the end of any annual cycle change the periodicity or components
of the monitoring reports if it feels the frequency or components of
reports are inappropriate to keep abreast of the project. Changes in
the independent reviewer can be made after any annual cycle, but only
with the knowledge and participation of the work group of cooperating
agencies, the independent reviewer, and BTMC.
QA/QC
Quality assurance/quality control in the usual sense of precision and
reliability of data collection does not apply to most of the monitoring
plan for this Action Plan, since the monitor is tracking the development
and implementation of a series of programs and regulations. Certain
features of quality assurance, however, can be applied to aspects of
the monitoring plan:
•. Collection of information in an objective and systematic
manner.
•. Use of qualified and experienced personnel.
¨ . Independent Third Party with
no vested interest, not a BTNEP employee.
¨ . Chosen by work group of cooperating
agencies in collaboration with BTMC.
¨ . Knowledgeable about storm water
pollution issues, educational and demonstration projects, water
quality monitoring programs and databases, wetland ecology.
•. Application of standard formats for quarterly reports.
•. Maintenance of a quarterly schedule.
•. Consistent and timely review of monitoring reports by BTMC.
References
Hirsch, R M., J.R. Slack and R.A. Smith. 1982. Techniques of trend
analysis for monthly water quality data. Water Resources Research
18: 107-121.
Rabalais, N.N., Q. Dortch, D. Justic, M.B. Kilgen, P.L. Klerks, P.H.
Templet, R.E. Turner, B. Cole, D. Duet, M. Beacham, S. Lentz, M. Parsons,
S. Rabalais, and R. Robichaux. 1995. Status and Trends of Eutrophication,
Pathogen Contamination, and Toxic Substances in the Barataria and
Terrebonne Estuarine System. BTNEP Publication #22. Thibodaux,
LA: Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program.
Reed, D.J. (ed.). 1995. Status and Trends of Hydrologic Modification,
Sediment Availability, and Habitat Loss/Modification in the Barataria-Terrebonne
Estuarine System. BTNEP Publication #20. Thibodaux, LA: Barataria-Terrebonne
National Estuary program.
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