An ACAP Journey: Urban Stormwater Management in Action

Last month I had the opportunity to travel to the University of New Hampshire to visit the Stormwater Management Center to see innovative methods of dealing with stormwater using green infrastructure. The trip was part of the Building Regional Adaptation Capacity (BRACE) project funded by Natural Resources Canada and the New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government that strives to educate industry professionals about climate change adaptation. I traveled there with a diverse group of city planners and environmental NGO employees from across New Brunswick.  

When I was telling my friends and family about the reasons for this trip, I was met with confused looks and lots of questions. What is a stormwater management center? Why is this something you are interested in? How does this relate to climate change? Many people may be surprised to learn that stormwater can carry many pollutants as it runs across roadways, driveways and parking lots.  Any leaking fluids from vehicles, salt and sand to manage ice and snow, and even emissions from exhaust pipes can be deposited onto hard surfaces and run into nearby waterways during rain storms. As our climate changes, rainfall events will become more intense (i.e. more volume of rain during a shorter period), which will create higher runoff volumes. Green infrastructure or low impact development (LID) promotes groundwater infiltration, filters pollutants and reduces the amount of stormwater flowing directly into aquatic habitats. As part of the Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the City of Saint John, I have been working on integrating LID into future planning and working with City employees to begin implementing green infrastructure projects throughout Saint John.

Photo 1: Parking lot bioretention filter.

The first part of the tour was in the Town of Dover, New Hampshire, where the University has worked with the Town to improve water quality in the Berry Brook Watershed. Berry Brook flows into the Cocheco River and then into the Gulf of Maine. Berry Brook was listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) as a federally impaired waterway in 2006 due to high levels of e.coli and poor grades from biomonitoring surveys.  Since Berry Brook is considered a coldwater refuge for fish, improving the health of this ecosystem became a priority for stakeholders in the area. At this time, the impervious cover (i.e. parking lots, roadways, driveways) equalled 30% of the watershed area and contributed to a large amount of pollutants entering the brook.

Our group met up with Dr. Tom Ballestero, the Director of the Stormwater Management Center at the headwaters of the Berry Brook Watershed, or as it is now known, the Hannaford parking lot. The first site we visited was across the road from the Hannaford, where a former wetland turned dumping area had been restored into a subsurface gravel wetland. This wetland collects runoff from the nearby commercial buildings and parking lots and can treat runoff from one acre of impervious surface. A portion of this wetland was also “daylighted,” meaning that it was returned to its natural state before being filled in, and reconnected with Berry Brook. This area has become an area that locals now enjoy walking and bird watching. Tom said that the best compliment they received about this project was that a little girl wanted to have her birthday party in the field next to the wetland.

Photo 2: Daylighted portion of the wetland and subsurface gravel wetland.

As we traveled through the watershed we saw many different techniques they employed to increase biofiltration such as bioretention swales, tree filters, and subsurface gravel filters.  Overall, 25 LID retrofits were installed in the watershed to reduce impervious cover from 30% to 13.4%. Tom mentioned that the municipal staff from the Town of Dover were committed to improving stormwater infiltration and this was one of the keys to their success. Staff are now thinking about how they will manage stormwater when new developments are built, or when roadway retrofits are completed. 

Photo 3: Bioretention swale that collects water from a nearby roadway.

All of the systems installed measured water flow and pollutant levels that were collected and therefore diverted from waterways.  Pollutants that were monitored included total suspended solids, total phosphorus, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, total petroleum and hydrocarbons. It is amazing to see how multiple small LID installations removed approximately 19 tons of sediment, 710 lbs of nitrogen, and 127 lbs of phosphorus annually from the Berry Brook watershed.

For the afternoon portion of the tour, we traveled about 20 minutes to the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center. The “Center” was technically stormwater management experiments that were installed throughout the University campus, but their main field site tests multiple stormwater management techniques simultaneously. This site is an area of low elevation next to faculty and student parking lots that collects runoff from paved surfaces and channels water into different systems.  This area tests three types of stormwater treatment systems: LID systems, product testing of manufactured systems and conventional structural systems, and has the ability to run up to 15 experiments at once. Other types of stormwater management infrastructure that was installed throughout the University campus includes permeable pavers, permeable asphalt, tree boxes and median swales in parking lots. One of the highlights was pouring water on the permeable asphalt and concrete to see how fast the water would disappear.

Photo 4: Field Test site.

I found it incredibly useful to be able to see how these different systems worked and to actually see them embraced by a municipality as it was in the Town of Dover. I learned what types of infrastructure needed more / or less maintenance and what ones municipalities are more likely to use. I was surprised to learn that the staff from the Town of Dover seemed very receptive to using bioretention swales when they could be vegetated with grass, rather than flowers and shrubs.  When the swales are grassed, staff can continue their regular maintenance to mow the area, rather than weeding and removing the dead plants in the spring or fall. 

Photo 5: Tree box filter.

After a long day filled with countless site visits, we were all feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information we received, but also excited and inspired to take this information back home to share with our colleagues and municipalities. I was blown away by the commitment to embracing LID shown by both municipalities we visited and wondered if this was because of the difference in regulations made by USEPA. Could green infrastructure be implemented at this level in New Brunswick without specific requirements for the quality of our stormwater runoff? Probably not, but through my own interactions with city staff in Saint John, I think that attitudes are changing toward using green infrastructure to reduce costs and adapt to climate change. 

I would like to thank Surahbi Sheth, BRACE Project Coordinator, for organizing this trip and Tom Ballestero, for giving us a great tour, and showing us that it is possible to manage stormwater on a watershed scale by integrating green stormwater management into urban landscapes.

Photo 6: Tour attendees and our guide Tom (middle) at the end of a great day!

A CAPtivating Summer

As many students know, the search for a summer job can be a stressful one. It can be difficult to find a good job at all, let alone one in your field of study. Having spent the past five summers working as a camp counselor, I was ready for a change; so when I discovered the summer student position at ACAP, I knew it was the job for me. I remember walking into the office for the first time on the day of my interview and I could already tell what a vibrant and exciting workplace this would be. I had no idea what to expect on my first day of work, but that turned out to be a bit of a theme throughout my summer. When working as a summer student for ACAP, each day brings new opportunities that you could never expect.

My main project of the summer was working on the Environmental Outreach and Engagement Initiative. I spent many hours compiling ideas from books, blogs and other staff members to create a brand new environmental education program for the YMCA camps at the Glenn Carpenter Centre. Then, once camp started, I was there every week to administer this new program myself. Thanks to my many previous years working as a camp counselor, I felt very comfortable in the beautiful outdoor setting and took on the role of the YMCA’s “Earth Educator” with pride. The campers knew me as “Acorn” (which I was nicknamed because it sounds like ACAP) and together we spent the summer exploring the wilderness and learning about all it has to offer. Working on this project was so rewarding, especially when I would arrive onsite to an excited chorus of “Acorn’s here!” I believe the campers greatly enjoyed the activities I completed with them and it is my hope that they continue to feel the same kind of passion for their natural surroundings even after the summer is long over.  

I am pursuing a degree in sustainability and biology at Dalhousie University and I am really looking forward to entering my second year with some environmental field work under my belt! Between seine fishing, planting a rain garden and even just spending time in the office around professional biologists, this job has given me so many memories and experiences that I can take with me as I work through my degree and beyond. I am so grateful to have had the chance to work alongside people who are truly making a difference in this increasingly relevant field. It is more important now than ever to include as many people in environmental outreach as possible, especially youth. It makes me feel very fortunate that I was able to influence so many young people in my community this summer. I taught them not only to make more eco-friendly, sustainable choices but to make time to enjoy nature and I encourage anyone who may be reading this to do the same!

Brianna Blair