Managing Urban Stormwater Using Constructed Wetlands

The intense concentration of human activity in urban areas leads to changes in both the quantity and quality of runoff that eventually reaches our streams, lakes, wetlands, estuaries and coasts. The increasing use of impervious surfaces designed to provide smooth and direct pathways for stormwater run-off, has led to greater runoff volumes and flow velocities in urban waterways. Unmanaged, these changes in the quantity and quality of stormwater can result in considerable damage to the environment. Improved environmental performance is needed to ensure that the environmental values and beneficial uses of receiving waters are sustained or enhanced. Urban Stormwater - Best-Practice Environmental Management Guidelines resulted from a collaboration between State government agencies, local government and leading research institutions. The guidelines have been designed to meet the needs of people involved in the planning, design or management of urban land uses or stormwater drainage systems. They provide guidance in ten key areas: *Environmental performance objectives *Stormwater management planning *Land use planning *Water sensitive urban design *Construction site management *Business surveys *Education and awareness *Enforcement *Structural treatment measures *Flow management Engineers and planners within local government, along with consultants to the development industry, should find the guidelines especially useful. Government agencies should also find them helpful in assessing the performance of stormwater managers. While developed specifically for application in Victoria, Australia, the information will be of value to stormwater managers everywhere.

Both practical and theoretical, this book provides the basic principles of soil chemistry, hydrology, wetland ecology, microbiology, vegetation and wildlife as a sound introduction to this innovative technology to treat toxic wastewaters and sludges. The use of wetlands for acid mine drainage, and metals removal in municipal, urban runoff, and industrial systems is discussed. Case histories are also presented, demonstrating specific types of constructed wetlands and applications to municipal wastewater, home sites, coal and non-coal mining, coal-fired electric power plants, chemical and pulp industry, agriculture, landfill leachate, and urban stormwater. Construction and management guidelines are clearly explained, providing information on applicable policies and regulations, siting and construction, and operations and monitoring of constructed wetlands treatment systems. Recent theoretical and empirical results from operating systems and research facilities, including such new applications as nutrient removal from eutrophic lakes and urban stormwater treatment within highway rights-of-way, are included. This book is an ideal resource for wastewater treatment plants, consulting engineers, federal and state regulators, industrial environmental managers, municipalities, environmental health professionals, and ecologists.

"This new edition of the 'Blue Book' provides updated guidance for local councils and practitioners for the design, construction and implementation of measures to improve stormwater management, primarily erosion and sediment control, during the construction-phase of urban development. "--Landcom website.

The purpose of this book is to disseminate contemporary knowledge and practical experiences concerning problems and solutions related to urban hydrology and drainage. Although the main focus is on developing countries, the book draws from experiences in many other parts of the world. Based upon numerous practical examples and case studies, the book provides information to assist in the management, planning and engineering design processes. Urban Stormwater Management in Developing Countries covers a wide range of methods and approaches to improve the understanding and ability of local stakeholders to solve stormwater problems within the framework of integrated urban water management. As well as structural interventions, the book describes various non-structural approaches for flood mitigation and pollution control. This book encourages the reader to adopt an integrated approach towards stormwater management and considers the importance of institutional arrangements, participation of local stakeholders in planning, as well as aspects of financing and cost recovery. This comprehensive and topical book: Addresses the broad range of issues related to urban stormwater management with a specific focus on developing countries. Covers the main aspects of planning, design, operation and maintenance of urban drainage systems as well as socio-economic and institutional issues related to urban stormwater management. Presents structural and non-structural approaches for flood mitigation and pollution control within an integrated water resource management framework. Provides extensive examples and case studies of "best practice". Contents Urbanisation and urban hydrology Impacts of flooding on society Integrated framework for stormwater management Institutional structures and policies Planning for urban stormwater management Approaches to urban drainage system design Ecological approaches to urban drainage system design Applications of computer models Operational performance and maintenance Flood mitigation and response strategies Participation and partnerships Economics and financing Full Contents List (27KB)

This report presents the results of research to evaluate the potential of utilizing mitigated wetlands as stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs). Results of wetland monitoring, wetland modeling, and geographic information system (GIS) development are presented. Average removal rates as high as 90% for total suspended solids (TSS), 65% for chemical oxygen demand (COD), 70% for total phosphorus (TP) and orthophosphate (OP), and 50% for zinc (Zn) were observed at study sites. Despite having stormwater runoff as a primary water source, the monitored sites supported apparently healthy and diverse vegetation, and a variety of wildlife. A mathematical model of transport of a pollutant in dissolved and particulate forms in a two segment, two-state system was developed. The model includes settling, diffusion, adsorption to plant and substrate, and vegetative uptake mechanisms. A GIS was developed to improve management of existing mitigated wetlands and to aid in siting of future mitigation sites. A link between a watershed model and this GIS is also described. The report concludes that mitigated wetlands may be as effective as conventional BMPs at improving the quality and at controlling the quantity of highway storm runoff.