Effects of Stormwater on Receiving

Waters and Water Quality

November 29, 2019

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 Objectives
• To understand the effects of the Stormwater and
SWM practices on the receiving water;

• To Identify various sources of pollutants in the

SWM runoff.
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 Overview
• Effects of Urbanization on:
– Water Quantity and Quality;
– The Channel Form
– The Aquatic Biota;
• Effects of SWM Control Practices on:
– Water Quality and Quantity;
– The Channel Form;
• SWM Pollution and Solutions.
 Introduction
• Receiving waters may include streams, rivers, lakes, and
oceans;
• Uses for receiving waters, includes but not limited to:
– Stormwater Conveyance (flood risk reduction);
– Ecosystem Integrity (habitat and biodiversity);
– Noncontact Recreation (parks, aesthetics, and boating);
– Contact Recreation (swimming); and
– Water Supply.
• Careful planning and SWM Control:
– focused on water resources sound development practices
incorporation of SWM controls;
• Streams should be considered an asset for the urban
community; and
• It is virtually impossible to return an urban stream to its
pristine state before human influence.
 Introduction
• Sedimentation buries the alluvial material that serves
as habitat for macro invertebrates;
• Erosion destroys the riparian habitat for fish and other
aquatic life.
• Despite the challenges science and engineering have
made important strides in protecting streams;
• Four categories of effects:
1. Water Quantity,
2. Water Quality,
3. Channel Form, and
4. Aquatic Biota.
 Effects of Urbanization on water Quantity
• Land is converted to impervious surfaces during
the process of urbanization;
• The urbanization effects the hydrologic cycle of
the site:
– Reduce infiltration and evapotranspiration,
– Increase the volume of runoff ,
– Alter the natural flow regime of the system,
– Change time to peak.
– Reduced Depression Storage; and
– More Uniform Surface Slopes.
 Effects of Urbanization on water
Quantity
• The introduction of:
– Paved areas,
– Catch basins and Manholes, and
– Storm sewers and drains creates fast pathways for
the runoff to reach the stream or outlet;
• Connections between stream channel and its
former flow regime changes; and
• May effect the productivity, diversity, and
functions of floodplain.
Effects of Urbanization on water Quantity
Effects of Urbanization on Water Quantity

• Urbanization may create base flows problems;

• A related effect is the conversion of streams from
historically supported base flow to surface flow;
• Thermal and biogeochemical gradients change
and effects on aquatic life.
• Removal of vegetation which results in:
– Reduced evapotranspiration losses
– Reduced surface roughness and catchment storage
– Cause erosion.
Effects of Urbanization on Water Quantity
• The hydrologic changes that urban catchments
commonly exhibit are:
– Increased runoff hydrograph peak;
– Increased runoff volume;
– Reduced time of concentration and catchment
Lag;
– Reduced catchment and channel storage;
– Changed base flow conditions.
Effects of Urbanization on Water Quantity

• Groundwater Effects:
– The paving of pervious surfaces leads to reduced
groundwater recharge;
– Groundwater may fluctuate; and
– May effect base flow conditions.
 Effects of SWM Control Practices on
Water Quality
• Objectives of SWM are to:
–Manage Flows to Protect Life and
Property;
–Reduce Pollution Loads into
Waterways;
–Channel Protection; and
–Aquatic Habitat Protection.
 Effects of SWM Control Practices on Water Quality

• A sensible approach to these goals is to:

– Attempt to mimic pre-development hydrologic patterns;
– Reduction or balancing of runoff volumes; and
– Attenuation of peak flows as opposed to flood control only,
which typically seeks to detain water;
• Reduction of runoff volumes can be attained by creating
opportunities for the water to return to the original
infiltration and evapotranspiration pathways; and
• The volume reduction also reduces peak flows and may
create storage areas where the runoff can be detained
temporarily to attenuates the peaks.
Effects of SWM Control Practices on Water Quality
Basin Control
 Effects of SWM Control Practices on Water Quality

• Figure shows various SWM Controls such as;

– Pre-Development, Post-Development and Post-Development with Green
Infrastructure (GI) capturing the 33 mm runoff spatially distributed to
capture, infiltrate, and evapotranspire ;
• Flow Duration Curves (FDCs) summarizes the direct runoff for the site under
various control scenarios, using the statistics of a 40-year rainfall record;
• A total of 5916 storms took place in that period, of which less than 1% was
greater than 70 mm; the 1-year storm is 76 mm;
• The figure shows that a basin designed for attenuation of the 1, 2, 10, and
100-Year events provides some peak reduction for the higher flow in the
historic rainfall record but the remainder is largely unaffected; and
• The common strategy is to detain the 1 year flows and release the runoff over
minimum 24 hours has a marked effect on water quality but may increases
low flows.
Effects of SWM Control Practices on Water Quality
Effects of SWM Control Practices on Water Quality
FDC Curves
 Effects of SWM Control Practices on Water
Quality
• It is difficult to mimic predevelopment
conditions under any SWM strategy;
• Detention-based strategies do not reduce the
volume of runoff and tend to lessen peak
flows but amplify them at the lower end; and
• Runoff volume-reduction strategies can
approach predevelopment conditions for the
smaller storms but may not completely
attenuate peak flows when required for
extreme events.
 Effects of Urbanization on Water Quality

SWM Runoff carries the following pollutants

into receiving streams based on the land use:

–Nitrogen; –Pathogens ;
–Phosphorus; –Organic Material;
–Heavy metals; –Chloride;
–Hydrocarbons; –Other Particulates;
–Sediments; and
–Debris.
 Effects of Urbanization on Water Quality

• Some of Sources of Pollutants:

– Fertilizer and Pesticide Application;
– Automobile Fluids and Brake Pad Residue;
– Feces from Pets;
– Livestock and Wildlife;
– Sand and Salt from Snow Removal Operations;
– Illicit Connections into the Storm Drain System;
– Lack of Sediment Control at Construction Sites;
– Littering along Streets and Highways; and
– Thermal loading: runoff flowing over hot paved surfaces
also increases the temperature of receiving waters.
 Effects of Urbanization on Water Quality

• Poorly controlled construction sites and large

discharges contributes tons of sediment per hectare
per year;
• Much of this sediment reaches urban receiving waters
which causes effects on the aquatic environment;
• In response to increased and more frequent flows,
channels widen or incise depending on the resistance
of the stream bed and bank materials; and
• Sediment is typically listed as one of the most
important pollutants causing receiving water problems.
 Effects of SWM Control Practices on Water
Quality

Depending on the type of stormwater control, following

are the pollutant removal processes:

– Sedimentation; – Nitrification and

– Flotation; Denitrification;
– Sorption; – Temperature Reduction,
– Precipitation; – Disinfection,
– Filtration; – Screening,
– Photosynthesis; – Photodegradation; and
– Oxidation.
 Effects of SWM Control Practices on Water
Quality
• Evapotranspiration and infiltration based controls
decrease pollutant loads by reducing the total volume
of runoff directly reaching the streams;
• Although infiltration may carry some pollutants into
the subsurface;
• The concerns over groundwater contamination due to
infiltration;
– For example, chloride is highly soluble in water and is a
conservative substance whose concentrations are only
reduced by dilution.
• For such pollutants, source reduction by proper
management practices is the best approach.
 Effects of Urbanization on Channel Form
• The Factors include various aspects of Geomorphology
and Hydraulics such as:
– Sediment Characteristics;
– Discharge;
– Sediment Transport; and
– Channel Geometry and Flow Velocities.
• Urbanization disrupts the balance between sediment
transport capacity and sediment supply;
• Sediment carrying capacity of the streams;
• Removal of forests can increase sediment to streams;
• Dams and other impoundments trap sediments;
 Effects of Urbanization on Channel Form
• Diversions for irrigation or water supply results
decrease in stream flows;
• The modifications results in disruptions to the state of
dynamic equilibrium;
• Some sediment load found in urbanized watersheds
comes from in channel erosion;
• Sediment yield increased during the construction
phase of urbanization;
• Urbanization may reduce sediment production
depending on the land use that it replaces; and
• Larger and more frequent discharges from urbanized
watershed cause enlargement of stream channels.
 Effects of Urbanization on Channel Form
• Changes in the flow regime caused by urbanization lead to
changes in the cross section and plan form of stream
channels;
• Channelization effect further increases the flow velocities;
• These changes trigger a process of erosion and channel
enlargement that results in excess sediment supply from
the eroding channels;
• When this supply rate exceeds the stream’s transport rate,
the sediment transport regime becomes unstable;
• This condition results in a cycle in which excess sediment
creates depositional features that cause more erosion;
• This is a long-term effect in which in stream sediment
contribution continues to change over time.
 Effects of SWM Control Practices on
Channel Form
• The varied magnitudes, frequencies, and durations
of discharges result in different sediment transport
regimes;
• The regional and site specific factors are important
when selecting stormwater controls that provide
stream erosion control; and
• Many municipalities have development regulations
that requires large storms to be controlled so that
the post development peak discharge for a given
return interval storm does not exceed a given value.
 Effects of SWM Control Practices on Channel
Form
• The attenuation of flow reduces flooding immediately
downstream, but may not reduce erosion in stream channels;
• The attenuated discharges could be greater than the critical
discharge for sediment transport and occur for a longer period of
time than in predevelopment conditions, resulting in cumulative
transport of more sediment;
• MacRae (1993; 1997) documented that a 2-year control triggers
channel expansion, causing widening by as much as 3 times the
predevelopment condition; and
• Also, MacRae (1997) found that over control design criteria do
not protect the stream channel from erosion and that, depending
on the streambed and stream bank material, the channel may
either degrade or aggrade.
Effects of SWM Control Practices on Channel
Form
 Effects of SWM Control Practices on Channel
Form
• Gravel and cobble bed streams are typically less
sensitive to changes in sediment load;
• Moglen and McCuen (1988) proposed an alternative
detention basin design that limits the total bed-
material load after development to that which existed
before development.
• In summary, the relationships between urbanization
and stream instability are well known and can be traced
to the increased magnitude and duration of flows.
• However, SWM design criteria seldom address this
aspect adequately.
 Effects of Urbanization on Aquatic Biota

• SWM runoff effects on aquatic life occur when urban

SWM runoff enters waterways and changes the
physical, chemical, thermal, light regime, and sediment
conditions;
• Other than direct and indirect toxic effects and
exceeded tolerance ranges (temperature, chemistry,
light), the significant reasons biological organisms
appear to be affected are summarized as follows:
– Increased Unpredictable Environment;
– Life-Cycle Disruption; and
– Riparian and Shore System Alteration.
 Effects of Urbanization on Aquatic Biota

• Habitat and Microhabitat Alteration.

• The channel hydrology and hydraulics changes
have results in channel dynamics and
morphological changes that directly affects
habitat.
• Sediment alterations can affect sand and
gravel bar longevity, stability and quality of
spawning areas, secure locations for surviving
floods, and the structure of pools and riffles.
 Effects of Urbanization on Aquatic Biota
• Plant communities are also affected by urbanization;
• Increased uptake of phosphorus that me be in the runoff;
• Thermal effects affect biological communities in
profound ways;
• Changes in temperature patterns of water bodies can
have significant effects on reproductive success, sex
ratios of fishes, macro invertebrates, and many other
aquatic and wetland organisms; and
• Create intolerable habitat conditions, oxygen depletion,
and depleted life, from the bottom of the food chain to
the top tropic groups.
 SWM Pollution Sources and Solutions

1. Residential; 1. Commercial;
2. Lawn Care; 2. Construction;
3. Septic System; 3. Agriculture;
4. Auto Care; 4. Forestry; and
5. Pet Waste; 5. Automotive
Facilities.
 SWM Pollution Sources and Solutions
1. Residential
– Recycle or properly dispose of household products
that contain chemicals, insecticides, pesticides,
paint, solvents, used motor oil and other auto
fluids.
– Do not pour them onto the ground surface or into
storm drains.
 SWM Pollution Sources and Solutions
2. Lawn Care:
– Application of fertilizers and pesticides to lawns wash
off and pollute the streams;
– Yard clippings and leaves can wash into storm sewers
and contribute nutrients and organic matter to
streams;
– Use organic mulch or safer pest control methods;
– Compost or mulch yard waste. Don't leave it in the
street or sweep it into storm drains or streams; and
– Cover piles of dirt or mulch being used in landscaping
projects.
 SWM Pollution Sources and Solutions
3. Septic Systems:
– Leaking septic systems may release nutrients and
pathogens which can be picked up by SWM runoff
and discharged into nearby waterbodies;
– Pathogens can cause public health problems and
environmental concerns;
– Inspect your system periodically and pump your
tank as required;
– Don't dispose of household hazardous waste in
sinks or toilets
 SWM Pollution Sources and Solutions
4. Auto Care:
– Washing car and degreasing auto parts can send
detergents and other contaminants into the storm
sewer system;
– Dumping automotive fluids into storm drains has the
same result as dumping the materials directly into a
waterbody;
– Use a car wash that treats or recycles its wastewater;
– Repair leaks and dispose of used fluids and batteries
at designated drop-off or recycling locations;
SWM Pollution Sources and Solutions
5. Pet Waste:
– It can be a major source of bacteria and nutrients
in local waters;
– Pick up the waste and dispose of it properly;
– Flushing it is the best disposal method;
– Leaving it on the ground increases public health
risks by allowing harmful bacteria and nutrients to
wash into the storm drain and eventually into
local waterbodies; and
– Education is essential to changing people's
behavior.
SWM Pollution Sources and Solutions
6. Commercial:
– Dirt, oil, and debris collected in paved areas wash
into the storm sewer system and eventually enter
local waterbodies;
– Litter and debris from sidewalks, driveways and
parking lots, especially around storm drains;
– Cover grease storage and dumpsters and keep
them clean to avoid leaks;
– Chemical spill; and
– Hazardous waste.
 SWM Pollution Sources and Solutions
7. Construction:
– Erosion cause excessive amount of sediment and debris to be
carried into the SWM system;
– leaking fuel, oil, and other harmful pollutants from construction
vehicles are picked up by SWM runoff and deposit into local
waterbodies;
– During the construction, divert runoff away from disturbed or
exposed areas of the site;
– Install silt fences, vehicle mud removal at the entrance of
construction areas, vegetative cover, swales with check dams,
and other sediment and erosion controls measures and properly
maintain them after rainstorms;
– Prevent soil erosion by minimizing disturbed areas during
construction; and
– Seed and mulch exposed or bare areas as soon as possible.
 SWM Pollution Sources and Solutions
8. Agriculture:
– Lack of vegetation on stream banks can cause erosion;
– Overgrazed pastures contribute sediment to local
waterbodies;
– Fertilizers and pesticides can affect aquatic animals and
lead to algae blooms;
– Livestock in streams can contaminate waterways with
bacteria, making them unsafe for human;
– Store and apply manure away from waterbodies;
– Vegetate riparian areas along waterways;
– Rotate animal grazing to prevent soil erosion in fields; and
– Apply fertilizers and pesticides according to the
instructions to minimize pollution.
 SWM Pollution Sources and Solutions
9. Forestry:
– Improper logging operations can result in erosion and
sedimentation;
– Use logging methods and equipment that minimize
soil erosion;
– Plan and design trails, yard areas, and access roads to
minimize stream crossings;
– Avoid disturbing the forest floor;
– Construct stream crossings to minimize erosion and
physical changes to streams; and
– Re-vegetate cleared areas.
 SWM Pollution Sources and Solutions
10.Automotives Facilities:
– Cars waiting to be repaired can leak fuel, oil, and
other harmful fluids that can be picked up by
stormwater runoff;
– Clean up spills and dispose off cleanup materials;
– Design or retrofit facilities for spill containment;
– Maintain fleet vehicles to prevent oil, gas, and
other discharges from being washed into local
waterbodies; and
– Install and maintain oil/grit separators.