Introduction
Abstract
Cities in Oregon and throughout the United States were engineered to keep stormwater out of sight and out of mind. Unfortunately, that approach has turned a potential resource into a waste product and created new environmental hazards. Once rain falls onto the hard surfaces of streets, sidewalks, parking lots and rooftops, it picks up any and all pollutants that are in its path, gathering volume and speed until it enters a stormdrain and is piped underground or directly into a stream. It substantially alters the natural hydrology of watersheds and causes water pollution. Stormwater runoff hinders the ability of rivers and streams to support aquatic life and it contributes to bacteria-laden waters unsafe for swimming, fish so contaminated with toxins that they are unsafe to eat, and property damage caused by widening stream channels and increased flooding. The Stormwater Solutions Team, convened by the Oregon Environmental Council (OEC), studied the issue and developed a set of recommendations to protect human health, natural resources and public infrastructure from the impacts of urban runoff.
The team identified a two-pronged solution. First, prevent pollutants from entering stormwater in the first place. Second, improve stormwater management through Low Impact Development (LID), which preserves existing natural features of the site and uses distributed, small-scale stormwater technologies to capture and filter runoff and allow the cleaned water to recharge groundwater supplies, mimicking the way nature manages rainfall. Some of the rainwater can even be harvested for irrigation or indoor uses.
While many cities have begun implementing these solutions, several obstacles slow their broad adoption in small and large cities throughout the state. A survey conducted by OEC and the Stormwater Solutions Team identified the following challenges in Oregon: A lack of information about LID and pollution prevention; permitting delays; codes and rules that impede innovation; lack of resources; maintenance concerns, especially for private stormwater facilities; and resistance to change. The Stormwater Solutions Team developed more than 60 recommendations for overcoming these obstacles and reducing the impacts of urban runoff. The recommendations include strategies for improving stormwater management and reducing sources of pollution via policy changes, education and information sharing, and technical research. The team’s top two recommendations are:
- Greater state support, including funding sources, for local efforts to develop stormwater programs, remove barriers from local development codes, and implement and monitor LID projects.
- Develop a comprehensive education and training program promoting sustainable stormwater management and LID in growing communities.
OEC and the team members are eager to work with additional partners to make pollution prevention and improved stormwater management standard practices throughout Oregon.
Introduction
Once rain falls onto the hard surfaces of streets, sidewalks, parking lots and rooftops, it picks up any and all pollutants that are in its path, gathering volume and speed until it enters a stormdrain and is piped underground or directly into a stream. The two primary consequences of poorly managed stormwater are water pollution and altered hydrology.
Most urban stormwater systems send polluted runoff into Oregon’s rivers, streams and groundwater untreated — carrying a vast array of pollutants such as petroleum byproducts from motor vehicles, fertilizers and pesticides from lawns, sediment from construction sites, bacteria from animal waste, and heavy metals such as copper, lead, zinc, and mercury from multiple sources. Anything that’s on the land eventually ends up in the water. In addition to polluting our rivers, streams and groundwater, conventional urban stormwater systems disrupt the natural hydrologic cycle. While the great majority of rainwater and snowmelt soaks into the ground or is absorbed by plants in a natural system, the hard (impervious) surfaces of urbanized areas prevent infiltration. There are also fewer trees and plants to absorb water. A one-acre paved parking lot generates 16 times more runoff than a meadow of the same size.1 The unnaturally high volume and rate of overland runoff in urbanized areas increases peak flows and the risk of flooding during storms, scours out streambanks, reduces groundwater recharge and reduces base flows, thereby increasing summer water temperatures that harm endangered salmon. The pollution and hydrologic disruption caused by poorly managed stormwater creates serious problems for the environment, our economy, and public health. These are primarily human-caused problems – raindrops are mostly clean when they fall from the sky and they generate very little runoff when they land in a natural environment.
- Water pollution: As more stormwater runoff enters our waterways, it contributes to the build-up of pollution in those waters. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is asking cities to reduce runoff pollution because it contributes to numerous water quality impairments, including the high mercury levels in resident fish in the Willamette River that make them unsafe for human consumption.
- Health advisories: The Oregon Department of Human Services cites stormwater runoff as a common source of the fecal bacteria that causes coastal beach health advisories.2 In 2006 the department issued 13 such advisories, warning the public against swimming at beaches with high levels of fecal bacteria in ocean waters.3
- Property damage: Increases in stormwater runoff can damage or degrade private and public infrastructure, such as property that is lost or damaged due to widening stream channels and unnatural flooding, and washed-out roads, bridges, culverts and sewer lines.
- Endangered salmon: Our societycontinues to urbanize, degrade and pollute the watersheds that provide precious fish habitat while at the same time we spend hundreds of millions of dollars in an attempt to restore endangered salmon species. Scientific studies show that as little as 4%-15% impervious area in a watershed significantly impairs aquatic life. A typical residential neighborhood has more than 30% impervious area, and a city center may be covered by more than 75% impervious surface, making it difficult to provide healthy fish habitat in nearby streams.4,5,6,7,8
- Wasted water: The water rights in most of Oregon’s water basins are fully allocated, and groundwater is scarce in many parts of the state. Harvesting rainwater or letting it recharge groundwater could reduce stress on our over-committed water systems, but we continue to treat rainwater as a waste. The rain that lands on a 2,000 square-foot roof of a home in the Rogue Valley (20 inches average annual rainfall) generates more than 24,000 gallons of relatively pure water per year.9
Fortunately, there is a better way
Modern stormwater management techniques either harvest rainwater for potable or non-potable uses, or utilize the natural abilities of plants and soil to capture and filter runoff and allow the cleaned water to recharge groundwater supplies, mimicking a natural hydrological system. Low Impact Development (LID) is a term used to describe a suite of development practices that reduce stormwater runoff by preserving existing natural site features and installing distributed, small-scale stormwater technologies that mimic the way nature manages rainfall. One example of an LID practice is a rain garden, which helps slow, capture, filter, and infiltrate stormwater that runs off of impervious surfaces.
When combined with efforts to prevent the contamination of rainwater by vehicle fluid leaks, pesticides and fertilizers, heavy metals, erosion from construction sites, industrial runoff and other sources, LID practices can reduce the negative impacts of urban stormwater and turn Oregon’s rain back into the natural resource that it is. Business owners and residents are beginning to understand that what they put on the ground and what runs off their driveways or roofs makes its way into public waterways. Although most people have yet to alter their behavior to embrace best practices, change is beginning to take place. The state’s demographic forecasters expect there will be another 1.8 million people in Oregon by the year 2040.10
As Oregon grows and more development occurs, we need to shift to more sustainables tormwater management methods before additional damage is done to our waterways. Ensuring that new development manages stormwater runoff in a way that protects natural hydrology is much less costly and more beneficial to the environment than allowing urban runoff to degrade streams and then spending significant resources in an attempt to restore them later. By using LID extensively in all new developments and in re-development projects in already urbanized areas, Oregon has the opportunity to do things right and protect clean water before we reach the point of no return.
Expanding the use of LID practices presents an incredible economic opportunity for the state, as we position ourselves as a leader in the sustainability and green building movements. Sustainable stormwater lies at the intersection of green building, landscape architecture and engineering, and it represents a growing industry in Oregon. As LID is introduced around the state, the public is responding positively to its functionality, attractiveness, and the way it reflects the value the public places on clean water. For example, now that the City of Portland has installed a few green street facilities, they have received more than a hundred calls from residents requesting one in their neighborhood.11 The demand for sustainable stormwater management is growing, but Oregon’s cities are having a hard time keeping up with that demand. While excellent work is already being done in many cities, several barriers currently prevent sustainable stormwater management from becoming standard practice around the state, as outlined in this report.
The solutions for reducing runoff and protecting our rivers, lakes, coastal waters and groundwater exist; the barriers to reducing non-point source pollution and improving stormwater management are primarily social, political and behavioral. Because the sources of stormwater pollution are found throughout the landscape, we all must be a part of the solution: residents, businesses, and governments alike. In the spirit of cooperation and constructive problem solving, the Oregon Environmental Council convened a broad group of stakeholders to form Oregon’s Stormwater Solutions Team to develop strategies for reducing urban stormwater impacts to our state’s waters. The team members worked collaboratively to develop the strategies recommended in this report and used a consensus process to reach agreement about the recommendations. Representation on the team does not imply that an organization or agency officially endorses every recommendation included in this report.
Goal Statement
The Stormwater Solutions Team set the following goal for itself:
To develop a focused list of recommended strategies (including policies, projects, and programs) that will reduce stormwater impacts in Oregon’s urban areas. Over time, we will work toward the following indicators of a reduction in urban runoff’s impacts:
- All development strives to mimic natural hydrology (volume, rate and duration)
- Urban stormwater runoff is no longer a significant contributor to water quality problems in Oregon’s waterways and groundwater
- Urban stormwater runoff no longer makes Oregon’s waterways or shores unsafe for human contact or other beneficial uses
The project’s scope includes smaller towns as well as large cities. It pertains to urban stormwater runoff and does not address agricultural runoff, a non-point pollution source that is outside the scope of this report.
Principles
The team developed the following set of principles to consider in developing and prioritizing recommendations.
Achieve multiple objectives
- Include an education and outreach component
- Address behavioral and systemic changes
Balance
- Be consistent across the state while addressing problems and needs specific to local urban areas
- Look for near-term and lasting benefits
Results-oriented
- Develop practical and user-friendly tools
- Be innovative and build on work already done
Accountability
- Identify costs associated with implementation, why the recommended action should be funded, and who should/will provide funding
- Include effectiveness measuring and monitoring components
The Stormwater Solutions Team developed a broad range of creative strategies for reducing urban stormwater runoff. Some of the recommendations pertain to state and local governments, while others are appropriate for non-governmental organizations, universities, professional associations, urban residents and other audiences. The Oregon Environmental Council looks forward to working with members of the team and other partners around the state to begin implementing the recommendations.
Acknowledgements
This report was authored by Teresa Huntsinger and designed by Jeremy Graybill of the Oregon Environmental Council. Many thanks to all the members of the Stormwater Solutions Team for their participation. This project was made possible by the time they provided as an in-kind service, the meeting spaces they donated, and most importantly their enthusiasm and expertise. Thank you also to Robin Gumpert of DS Consulting for her excellent work as facilitator, to Chris Hagerbaumer for her guidance and advice, and to Glenn Montgomery for his support. The Stormwater Solutions Team project was funded by a Pollution Prevention Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency via the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department, with additional support provided by the Jubitz Family Foundation and the Jackson Foundation.
